Lelouch of the Revolutionary Army
by sephiroth12285
Summary: When betrayed and almost killed because of a violent power struggle Lelouch and Nunnally barely survived, but they lost everything. Now eight years after that vicious betrayal and having been raised by a deadly assassins. Lelouch is ready to seek revenge against those who wronged him while waging a one man war against the Empire taking the name Zero, but he is going to need help.
1. Chapter 1 He who walks in silence

Disclaimer: I do not own Code Geass nor do I own Akame ga kill.

A/N: This is an idea I have been experimenting with for while now and after doing a previous version of it before I feel more satisfied with the second version.

In this crossover I have melded the worlds of Akame ga kill and Code Geass together into one, so expect a lot of changes but otherwise some things will still be the same. This is my first time working with a number of Akame ga kill characters so bear with me, but with that said input and suggestions are welcomed on them as I proceed with this story.

Summary: Wronged by those seeking more power for themselves and with corruption plaguing the Empire with evil everywhere now a young man who had almost being a victim of the most violent power struggle the Empire had ever seen is ready to seek vengeance against those who had tried to have him killed. Raised by skilled assassins to become one of the deadest assassins seeking vengeance he is known to the Empire by one name only: Zero.

Lelouch will make his debut in this chapter and how he ties into the Akame ga kill universe I'll reveal in the coming chapters as Night Raid and other parties try to figure out Zero's true identity. I did use some assassin greed elements in this story as well as introduce a surprising choice for a mentor for Lelouch who some of you might recognize if you have played Elder Scrolls.

As for pairings I have decided on Chelsea and Lelouch, but I am keeping Sayo and Akame handy as potential alternatives should Chelsea don't quite work as planned. I might do Tatsumi and Esdeath through depending on how things turn out for them.

On with the chapter…

Chapter 1

He who walks in silence

It was pass midnight as a full moon was shinning down over the quite estate of a wealthy merchant and trader who lived in an impressive three-story mansion that sat in the center of a lush forest estate which was surrounded by twenty feet tall stone walls to keep trespassers out. Patrolling the grounds closest to the mansion were armed guards wearing plate armor carrying swords and spears for weapons while some carried firearms like rifles. At first glance the mansion was very well defended and secured from anyone who might attempt to infiltrate it, but that was only if the person looking at the security layout was an amateur.

Perched upon one of the trees a distance away from the mansion was an eighteen year old teenager wearing a black cape with a hood. On his face he wore a black polished mask with no visible eyeholes that encased the wearer's head. The rest of his outfit consisted of black robes with plates of armor; made up of several overlapping plates, possessed a gold tint while the rest of it to avoid hindering movement and putting too much weight on the wearer used black leather. Its design was to not only protect vital areas of the wearer, but to ensure free movement and that the metal plates wouldn't create any kind of noise while moving.

Even the black cloak was an important part of the armor as it nearly reached down to his feet just stopping short of his ankles, but it was made up of three layers and not just one. Each layer was longer than the one above it and the longest lower layer was segmented giving the appearance of the wearer to process wings when leaping through air. It was an ingenious design feature to allow the wearer to guide short distances through the air, but it was also useful in slowing down a fall from a high up location.

On his feet he wore a pair of matching black leather boots with metal plates on his shins and his thighs for protection while his hands were covered with black leather gloves while he wore metal armbands around his forearms which included a set of concealed weapons. On his waist was a belt with a dark gray and black sash with a metal belt with a gold emblem of a phoenix taking flight with a sword piecing it. Concealed along each of the wings was a throwing knife, but other tools and weapons were hidden around the waist as well too.

After he finished surveying the grounds ahead the hooded figure silently leapt from the tree while extending his arms allowing the cape to assume a wing like formation allowing the teenager to guide softly to the ground near the rear of the mansion. A pair of guards was in deep conversation as they continued their patrol having failed to notice an intruder approaching the mansion. Moving silently the infiltrator scanned for any signs of any other guards who might have been watching from one of the windows, but when he saw none the hooded teenager began scaling the side of the mansion making his way to the roof.

' _Are these fools that confident that no one could get this far in?'_ The masked man thought as he reached the roof of the mansion. He stealthily moved across the roof while mindful to keep to the shadows while blending in with the rest of the rooftop to avoid being spotted from the ground.

Reaching another side of the mansion the hooded infiltrator climbed down until he came to a balcony leading into the master bedroom where his target laid. Using a small metal pick from his belt the masked man quietly, but carefully undid the lock before slowly opening the door to creep inside. The interior of the master bedroom was big and spacious, which was typical for wealthy merchants of his target's reputation and profession. What was also predictable of a merchant known for bribing the guardsmen, the courts and other influential parties was how predictable he was in indulging himself in a number of hedonistic pleasures such as having two women share his bed with him as he laid in the middle.

' _How predictable…does his wife know about it?'_ The teenager thought gazing on the scene with a look of disgust hidden behind his mask.

On one hand even if his wife knew anything about it she probably couldn't do anything about it since her so-called husband could easily use his influence and wealth to turn her life and those of her family into a living hell. The man before him was on the surface a generous and very wealthy merchant who owned and operated a number of trading caravans and shipping operations for the Empire. In private it was almost what was typical for those with wealth and status today.

The truth was that the man before him aside from his legitimate operations ran a second more shadier business of transporting illegal goods, and weapons for black market purchases while also involved in the selling of slaves to nobles, factories, farms and some hellish locations. That was just the tip of the iceberg as those who were unfortunate enough to be young and beautiful were forced into brothels he had in operation in the capital. Even worse for some who ended up his own personal slaves, although thankfully the bedding covered enough of the three but he could see the bruises and signs of cuts on their arms and necks.

The masked man, Lelouch Lamperouge only became more determined to end his life.

But before that Lelouch had a job to do so silently going to one side of the room Lelouch began carefully investigating the merchant's desk. Noticing a cabinet had a lock on it Lelouch picked it before opening it. Using the moonlight as a source of light to glance at some of the documents inside Lelouch quietly placed them within a bag he carried on the backside of his waist.

With that task complete Lelouch crept over to the side of the bed Lelouch was grateful that the man was sleeping on his back and with his mouth slightly open. Drawing a special tool from his belt he extended a small metal stick that reached out across the bed. Once he held its end over the merchant's mouth he pushed a button as a small amount of clear liquid was released dripping into the man's mouth.

Lelouch was careful not to let too much drip in at a time, which could cause the man to gag thus waking him up. Once he saw the man swallow enough of it he put the device away and quietly went out the same way he came, but not before leaving his calling card which was a white thick piece of paper folded over so it could stand on the nightstand by the bedside with a black printed emblem of a phoenix taking flight with a sword through it.

' _He'll be dead in a couple minutes.'_ Lelouch thought with a smile of triumph under his mask.

The poison he had given the sleeping man was harvested at great personal risk from a deadly danger beast that uses such poison to kill enemies and prey before consuming them. It first causes the body's motor controls to become paralyzed to prevent escape and then swelling in the throat and air passages happen minutes later causing the victim to suffocate and die. The poison itself, although it was highly effectively, was extremely risky to obtain. However for tasks like these it made carrying out assassinations against his targets much easier.

Unless the poison was treated at the moment of infection the target was dead within five minutes.

As Lelouch hurried across the rooftops not wishing to be around if the man's death somehow awoke his unwilling bedmates which could lead to the guards being alerted to the presence of an assassin. Even though he hurried he was cautious and used stealth to keep to the shadows so the guards patrolling the grounds around the mansion would not see him. Reaching the rear of the estate Lelouch waited until he saw no guards in the area or anyone watching the rooftop, so with one leap he opened his cloak again using the wing-like attachments of his tipple-layered cloak to guide across the air reaching the base of the forest that surrounded the estate.

Taking to the trees Lelouch used to them to avoid detection with the darkness providing additional cover. It didn't take long for Lelouch to reach the wall upon which he jumped guiding through the air once more allowing him to make a clean get away. He might have escaped the estate after breaking in and fleeing undetected, but he stayed alert until he returned to base. He moved quickly through the forest working to put as much distance as possible between him and the mansion.

But unknown to him at that moment another group of assassins had begun an attack on the mansion.

Unaware of the fact that their boss was likely dying of poison at that moment the guards who protected the mansion rallied together to defend it from a group of five people. Even through the guards outnumbered them, but in terms of skill and weapons they were hopelessly outclassed. Even the guards who were armed with rifles couldn't charge the tide of battle as they were getting slaughtered by the dozens within mere minutes of the battle beginning. Outside a girl wearing pink armed with a large rifle-like weapon was picking off enemies who either attempted to attack them or those attempting to flee. Another was wearing full armor armed with a spear who was engaging the guards in melee combat before swiftly decapitating them. Then another member with green hair armed with wires for weapons was also adding his two comrades in making short work of the guards who tried in vain to stop them.

During the battle the last two members, both of them female infiltrated the mansion swiftly killing any guard unfortunate enough to cross their path cutting a bloody path to the master bedroom. One of them was older than the two armed with a very large pair of scissors wearing a revealing outfit that matched the color of her purple hair and eyes along with a pair of glasses. Her comrade seemed younger with long black hair that reached down pass her waist with red eyes wearing a black outfit with a red tie, a skirt and matching shoes armed with a katana-like weapon with a red hilt.

One guard became another poor victim to Sheele's Teigu as she literally cut the man in two with Extase. Akame led the charge as the red-eyed assassin kicked open the doors to the master bedroom where they saw their target lying motionless in his bed while the two women who had been with him prior had been awakened by the sound of the battle outside which had prompted them to take refuge inside the closet fearing for their lives. Fortunately for them neither of them were a target for Akame and Sheele, but the fact their real target wasn't moving puzzled them until Akame approached him to check his pulse.

"He's dead, but," Akame said in an emotionless tone before noticing the swelling around his neck and the blood coming out of his mouth and nose. "I recognize this…he was poisoned with Chaurus venom. This man died not too long ago…his body is still warm."

"But isn't getting Chaurus venom very difficult?" Sheele asked titling her head to one side to look around the room. Knowing how difficult getting your hands on such potent poison it was quickly ruled out the two women hiding in the closet had done the deed, but Akame looked to the nightstand and saw the answer.

"It was Zero…again." Akame said picking up the calling card he left behind.

"Zero, but how…I thought Leone was covering the rear?"

"He must have slipped away before we began our attack." Akame answered calmly. "The mission is a failure, but the target is dead."

"Mine isn't going to take this well that Zero has beaten us to another target." Sheele said before she and Akame left the room.

As a group, Night Raid carried out assassinations for clients after doing a background check on both the target and the client, but in truth they carried out assassinations and missions for the Revolutionary Army that was rising up in opposition to the corrupt Empire being controlled through manipulation of the child Emperor by the Prime Minister.

The mysterious assassin Zero who began appearing over a year ago wasn't competing against them per sec, but rather there were times in which the two shared the same targets. The first time was when she and Mine had been sent to kill a target who was a high profile target who was a member of the nobility, but was a corrupt official within the Empire who accepted bribes and usually used his post to help falsely accuses and imprison innocent people who just happened to make the mistake of making an enemy of someone who had connections.

But the man was paranoid and was constantly in the companion of his bodyguards and his home was surprisingly well defended, so during an attempt to assassinate him during a festival Mine was preparing to shoot him from a safe distance. However before she had a chance the target had joined with a large group of festival attendees having been led away and memorized by a beautiful woman, but in one moment of blissful carelessness a person wearing a black cloak came and slashed his throat open with a concealed blade of some kind.

It had happened so quickly and suddenly it took the man and his guards a full minute to realize what happened before their target bled to death and died before the festival collapsed into chaos. Yet before anyone realized what happened Zero had come, cut open the man's throat while at the same time slipping his calling card into his pocket to be found later and then slipped away like a phantom before anyone realized what had happened. It was Zero's most public assassination and yet he got away clean with no one seeing him. In fact he had obtained something of a mythical status within the Empire as the assassin with no identity giving him a number of nicknames such as the phantom assassin, the glimmer man or the one name that has become the one that most have recognized him with.

Zero the assassin who leaves zero witnesses behind, but none of which he had never killed. No this came from the fact that no one except for possibly his targets might have seen him before meeting their end.

In fact his existence for the most part was questioned because of the lack of witnesses and evidence of his existence. No one was even sure if Zero was even a man, but still unlike Night Raid the Empire had virtually nothing on Zero, so even when they posted a wanted poster of him all they could put was his emblem which was always upon every calling card he leaves behind at each assassination he carries out.

"I don't know how she'll take it, but I think something will need to be done. It's becoming inconvenient that he kills some of our targets before we get to them."

The sun was beginning to rise when Lelouch finally made his way back to the place he called home. He lived a fair distance most towns near the capital so the area was remote enough, but it wasn't enough for the type of home he needed. Coming to a hole in the side of the mountain Lelouch stood at the mouth of the deep pit which descended deep underground. The rocks along its walls were polished smooth with virtually no way of climbing down let alone being able to climb back up, but without fear he leapt into the hole and began free falling into the dark underground below.

Using his cloak to slow his descendent until Lelouch managed to land inside of a cave one hundred feet from the top of the chasm where a tunnel led further underground while behind him the pit had at least two hundred feet more before the bottom. His mask allowed him to see the path before him and so he continued down it for a time navigating a maze of tunnels, but thankfully he had been taught to memorize the pathway so he could avoid getting lost.

Danger Beasts of the more subterranean type inhabit the underground area, but thankfully they never poised to be a problem due to both the fact the hideout was very well fortified and protected against such attacks while it had special means of repelling them. Lelouch had a special repellent provided to him to ensure his safe passage through the tunnels. Finally after a twenty minute walk through dark underground tunnels Lelouch came to a wall craving at the end of a winding tunnel.

It had read markings with people around what appeared to be the symbol of a hand.

Upon laying his hand within the hand mark he heard the door special directly into his mind.

"What is the music of life?" The door asked with a slow and raspy voice.

"Silence, my brother."

"Welcome home!" The door replied before it began to open by the wall sinking into the ground. Ahead at least three more stone slabs slid back allowing Lelouch entrance before two heavy metal doors were withdrawn into the ground allowing Lelouch to approach a pair of heavy metal doors. Pushing them open Lelouch entered a vast underground chamber that looked more like the interior of a castle with stone bricks lining the floors, ceiling and walls with stone pillars linking the chamber. On the ground was a red carpet with a black hand imprinted upon it. Upon the pillars and walls were lit torches upon metal scones that kept the chamber well lit making it a welcomed contrast to the dark and cold caves outside. Off to the side was a large pool filled with water that was fed through an opening through the ceiling creating an indoor waterfall effect providing a source of fresh water, but Lelouch knew it was one of many where the water came from a different source.

Taking a deep breath following the removal of his mask Lelouch wiped some sweat off his forehead as his black hair hung freely. As much as he enjoyed the mask some times, but after a long mission he was glad to finally take it off once he had returned home.

"Welcome home Lelouch." Said a man wearing black robes complete with a hood that covered his head, but his face could still be seen. He had a light complexion with blue eyes and a stern expression upon his face, but Lelouch knew the man enough that he could easily hide his emotions well and appear happy or angry without changing the tone in his voice.

"Mission accomplished." Lelouch answered to his friend and mentor Lucien Lachance.

"Oh I know, but it seems once again you and Night Raid has intersected once more."

"I assume it happened sometime after I left?" Lelouch asked with an annoyed tone to his voice.

"I wouldn't worry about it, but did you deposit the documents you recovered at the dead drop?"

"Of course I did, but I made sure no one was around when I made the delivery."

"I did not doubt you for a moment, but you must never grow clearly nor must you never relax your guard. That is what it means to be an assassin of the Black Hand."

"I know," Lelouch said before letting out a yawn. "If you don't mind I would like to clean up and get some sleep."

"Of course we can talk once you are fully rested."

The following day back at the estate Lelouch had visited to kill his target before Night Raid hit it. It was about noon when a young man with brown hair and green eyes wearing the black and white uniform associated with those of the Imperial Garrison. His uniform came complete with an armored breastplate and armor on his shoulders was approaching the front door of the mansion. Suzaku Kururugi was approaching the mansion while the surroundings near the front look as if a warzone had happened. Of course Suzaku had a number of questions on his mind, but probably the most common he had on his mind was.

"Follow me Suzaku we shall find the ones responsible for this."

Those words came from his very energetic and overzealous partner and superior who like him wore the same uniform as he did, but hers was more of a female variant with a one-piece uniform top with long sleeves complete with a skirt and long white thigh-high socks. She had long light brown hair styled into a long-ponytail that reached pass her waist with matching eyes and almost never fading smile.

When not in the presence of those who were evil in the mind of Seryu Ubiquitous at least, but Suzaku wondered which superior did he anger to get assigned to the woman who was his superior?

"I am sure we will." Suzaku said since trying to argue otherwise would be pointless.

Following Seryu was a small dog-like creature that seemed quite unusual, but very few realized he was in fact a living Teigu called Magical Beast Transformation: Hekatonkheires. Seryu on the other hand affectionately called the dog-like creature Koro treating the living organic Teigu like a pet and attack hound all at once.

' _I pray she doesn't end up killing anyone this time for a minor offense.'_ Suzaku thought as he had the unfortunate task of trying to be Seryu voice of reason, especially when she was in one of her dealing out justice sprees as she calls it. Suzaku called it Koro enjoying a one-sided feeding frenzy as the tiny dog would grow to gigantic size to devour anything unfortunate enough to be caught by it.

Entering the mansion Seryu would question the butler who was among the few people to be left alive after last's night battle which left all of the guards dead along with most of the servants who had attempted to fight back against Night Raid when they invaded. However it wasn't discovered until later that Zero had once again beaten them to the punch and killed Night Raid's target with poison. Even the women he had in bed with him didn't know when he had died until the sounds of combat during Night Raid's attack woke them up.

It was only after that did they realize the man was dead.

Workers and hired help from the nearby town were busy helping to clear away the bodies for burial outside, but Suzaku had wished they could have left them lie as they were so they could have studied the crime scene where the chances of them finding evidence was higher. Now it had been ruined now, but on one hand he wondered if it would have made a difference anyway.

' _We know a lot about Night Raid and some of its members, but Zero…we know nothing about him.'_ Suzaku thought because unlike Night Raid who was composed of a number of skilled and powerful combatants with Akame a once famous imperial assassin and former imperial soldier Bulat who earned the nickname 100 Man-Slayer Bulat for his prowess. Of course those were two of its famous members, but there were others and their leader to consider too. Either way Night Raid was formidable with little success towards any information leading to their headquarters or their capture.

It was a very different story with Zero.

No witnesses and no evidence save for his calling card he leaves at the site of each murder. No one has actually seen Zero, so his existence has been called into question more than once. People weren't even sure if he was a man or a woman because so little information on the masked assassin existed. Unlike Night Raid the masked assassin would always infiltrate his target's home without alerting the guards or even the target to his presence until long after the deed was done. It did seem through that Night Raid and Zero did not collaborate with one another with what happened at the estate last night being one of a very small few of such cases.

Even when he committed an assassination on a target out in a crowd of people enjoying a festival no one recalled seeing him, but that made the fact clear in terms of sheath and infiltration Zero had no equal.

Suzaku had finished questioning the girls who had been with the man when he died, although he detested men who engaged in such illicit acts especially when he could tell the women he had were not willingly with him judging from how they seemed to care very little for his demise. In fact he noticed traces of them being glad at his demise even though they were trying to hide it out of fear of retribution. Suzaku didn't inquire nor would he make a mention of this in his report.

' _They have been through enough already.'_

This was one of the things he disliked about his job at times, although he had joined it with the intention of changing the Empire from within for the better. He realized what an uphill battle he was facing upon seeing the number of corrupt officials, merchants and nobles who abused their power for various reasons. Cases of women being threatened and forced into illicit activities with a nobleman and a merchant were unfortunately common in the capital.

He tried to do something about it, but unfortunately he failed to consider that those corrupt forces existed in the Imperial Garrison and probably higher up as well too.

' _I'll need to go higher before I can try to make any chances, but I guess that would depend if I can stay on Seryu's good side.'_

Suzaku thought after he finished questioning the girls that he observed his superior questioning another survivor of the attack. Fortunately Seryu wasn't corrupt, but unfortunately she was far too overzealous about punishing those who are in her view evil that those who were against the Empire were evil while those with it regardless if they were corrupt or not were good. A simple black and white view of the world, which combined with how overzealous she was in punishing criminals and assassins made Seryu extremely dangerous.

Thankfully Suzaku learned to adapt and he has tried and succeeded once or twice at being the young woman's voice of reason. On a scale of one out of ten he succeeded three out of ten times when he convinced Seryu to follow a criminal to his hideout instead of outright killing them on the spot to get the entire gang instead of just one member.

Other times it was mostly hit or miss through.

"Suzaku did you get any useful information?" Seryu asked cheerfully.

"Not much, but its Zero's handily work as the poison used is indeed Chaurus Poison." Suzaku answered putting away his notepad. Chaurus Poison was a preferred favorite of Zero as he coated all of his weapons with it apparently so if the initial strike didn't kill them the poison would.

"Zero and Night Raid will not escape justice forever!" Seryu declared proudly, but Suzaku noticed the hints of frustration in voice which was a common feeling shared among officers who had tried their hand at investigating Zero.

Yet all of them always turned up empty handed with nothing to show for their efforts so they abandon the case leading it to be passed from one officer to another until now it was passed onto Seryu and by extension him.

' _The only way we'll get Zero is if he or she slips up, but…that doesn't seem likely to happen any time soon.'_ Suzaku thought.

Later that afternoon at the hidden base concealed within a wide cavity within a mountain which provided perfect cover from airborne search parties while making it the ideal location for a natural fortress with castle walls and a central tower in the middle all built below the mountain that covered their headquarters. Standing 10 km from the capital in the mountains range where danger beasts roamed and there were very few villages and settlements in the area, which only made it more ideal as a base of operations for Night Raid.

After resting from last night's mission the members of Night Raid including Akame, Sheele, Mine and the rest of their group was gathered in the main hall for a meeting regarding last night's mission and Zero with their leader. She was probably one of the oldest of the group with white-silvery hair cut short, which if not for her feminine appearance she could easily be mistaken for a guy. She had a purple eye while the other she lost a long time ago, but it was covered by an eye patch while she wore a black suit with a mechanical right arm.

"I am so pissed that Zero interfered in another job AGAIN." Mine shouted voicing her displeasure. As the pink haired girl sat on a chair with her arms crossed across her chest.

"Hey how are we supposed to know Zero nailed the target?" Another member of their group said, a young man with short green hair wearing a white shirt with a green jacket matching his hair and eyes with goggles worn on top of his head.

"There is no question Zero is good at what he does Lubbock. We haven't seen an assassin of his caliber in years with our little Akame being close to him." The oldest male among them, Bulat said. He had gel-slick hair styled into unique hair style while he wore white pants and a black shirt with green armor on it.

"Yet we know so little about him. Even HQ knows nothing about him…or her." Their leader Najenda mused while in deep thought. "We know Zero is against the Empire, but the reason why he or she hasn't joined with the Revolutionary Army raises a lot of questions."

"You think he is an enemy then just getting rid of people who might be in his way?" Mine asked while her partner Sheele remained quiet as did Akame.

"No I doubt that, but regardless we need more information on Zero. So I want to include seeking information on Zero or information that might help us find him or at least try to comprehend his motives. If we can learn that much it could help us in discovering his identity and finding the man…or woman."

"That is a tall order." Leone noted.

"I know, but I am feel annoyed a few of our jobs have crossed paths with Zero without realizing it so I think we should start there and find out if there were anyone else who might have wanted those targets dead."

"Now that is going to be even harder. Do you remember the lottery we had to hold just for that one guy killed at the festival by Zero because so many people wanted him dead were trying to hire us?" Leone said with a matter of fact tone.

"Yes I know, but still we need to start somewhere."

Deep within the mountains where Lelouch hid the young man was an awake and already training his body to keep it in prime condition wearing a black shirt and pants while doing pushups in the training room of the underground hideout. He remembered a time that years ago he couldn't do a single push-up let alone run very far, so it was a marvel at how far he had come.

But a burning need for vengeance has a way of being a good motivator.

He wouldn't be here if it wasn't for Lucien. The man who saved his life and the man who trained him and raised him as an assassin and a fighter so he could take vengeance and reclaim what belonged to him. But that was secondary as he wanted vengeance against those who had tried to murder him and his sister years ago with his ultimate target being the man who masterminded the whole thing.

The Prime Minister was Lelouch's target yet at the same he was his mortal enemy.

' _Soon the time will come when I'll cut out your throat Honest.'_ Lelouch thought as his purple eyes burned with rage.

A/N: Nunnally and Sayoko will be introduced in the next chapter, so tell me what you guys think? I am going to take care of one of my other fics before returning to this one. Because I do want to be sure I am getting the characters right before I proceed too far ahead and find out I messed up with them lol. But I am confident in the story itself and I do got a lot of ideas for it.

Thank you in advance for your reviews and input.


	2. Chapter 2 Emblem of Blood

A/N: Thank you for the reviews and the feedback, because it means a lot to me. There are a few things I forgot to mention in the last chapter so I'll mention them here.

One seeing that I am including Akame ga kill in this crossover there will be character deaths among both Akame ga kill cast members and Code Geass cast members, but I will say Lelouch, Suzaku, Tatsumi and Akame will likely survive but I do plan on Sheele surviving. Everyone else is fair game, but only if their deaths serve to advance the story and character development.

Second in regards to pairings I have for now settled on Lelouch and Chelsea, but I did contemplate the other characters like Akame, Mine, Leone, Sheele and even Esdeath. Akame was almost my first choice, but I was tempted to do Sheele and Lelouch because I did have a soft spot for her character. I almost picked Akame through because her experience might have made for middle ground between her and Lelouch, but I wasn't convinced if she would be the best choice. I would explain more as to why I didn't pick her, but to do so would spoil what I got planned for the story. To put it simply Lelouch is going to need someone who can provide much needed support especially much later in the story.

But I could change my mind if someone else would be best for fulfilling that role better among the choices mentioned above.

I did originally plan to do a separate world style-story so I could keep Lelouch more in character with his canon self, but after making two chapters I realized it wasn't going to work out so I changed it to this. I am going to keep Lelouch much like his canon self as possible, besides the other changes I had to make to adapt him to this world and etc, because without his training as an assassin its very unlike he would have survived this story lol.

And yes I did use some elements of Elder Scrolls and Assassin Creed for this story, but the other CG characters are going to appear as the story unfolds.

* * *

Chapter 2

Emblem of Blood

Once upon a time Lelouch Lamperouge wasn't the coldblooded and ruthless assassin he was now, but his origins were surprisingly more privileged compared to many in the Empire right now. The same was said of his sister Nunnally Lamperouge who was only three years younger than she was. Their family was very well connected because their distance relatives are well-respected noble families. During that time Lelouch Lamperouge was Prince Lelouch the next in line for the throne of the empire. He was still a child then, but even so he was a very intelligent and well educated child who would have made a very exceptional Emperor.

Perhaps it was those traits and his intelligence that Prime Minister Honest saw Lelouch as a threat to his own ambitions.

Not only was Lelouch intelligent, but he despised a majority of the nobility and those as he saw brought their positions and did nothing to earn them. When his father died of old age his mother Marianne was now ruling as a stand-in-Empress until Lelouch would come of age to assume the throne. Marianne couldn't inherit the throne because she was a commoner who joined the Imperial Army at a young age before earning her way up through the ranks rapidly.

Her fame and success as Marianne the Flash earned the attention of the Emperor Charles who some time after making her his bodyguard at the age of nineteen ultimately ended up conceiving a child with him.

Even through Charles was married at the time, but he was able to avoid a scandal by taking Marianne as a Royal Consort as it was a right Emperors were entitled to especially if their wife wasn't able to conceive a royal heir. Therefore Lelouch Lamperouge was named Charles's heir as he was the Emperor's first born son. A few years later Nunnally would be born making her second heir and princess to the Empire and then at last Charles's wife finally gave birth to Makoto a couple years after Nunnally, but sadly Makoto's mother died during childbirth.

As Lelouch was being groomed to become the next Emperor he was being looked after by his maid Sayoko Shinozaki.

No matter how intelligent he was or how well he could claim to read people Lelouch was still a child then, so he couldn't have predicted what would happen. Officially as far as the public at large were concerned a coup erupted within the palace being carried out by a disgruntled general which led to the demise of Marianne who had died valiantly defending the throne taking the general responsible for the coup along with most of his followers with her. Her children were killed in the coup with Makoto being the sole surviving heir. A number of ministers and cabinet heads were killed in the attack creating a power vacuum that would have sent the Empire into chaos had not the newly appointed Prime Minister Honest stepped in and quickly established order and installed the young Makoto as the new Emperor.

Or at least that is what the public was led to believe, but the truth of the matter was quite different and what happened was only half true.

A ten year old Lelouch would wake up in the hidden fortress deep in the mountains that he would call home for the next eight years of his life. His life as a prince was over, but his maid Sayoko had saved Lelouch and Nunnally from death. Who would have thought that a kind maid was actually a highly trained assassin belonging to an ancient order of assassins who had sworn their loyalty to the First Emperor and his family when the Empire was founded? Lelouch would remember waking up on the bed he had been placed on after arriving at some point to see Sayoko and the man who would become his mentor in the ways of the assassin and more.

"I am pleased you are awake your majesty." Lucien said greeting the prince as he awoke.

"Who…who are you?"

"I am Lucien Lachance the grandmaster of the Black Hand."

"The Black Hand?"

"Have you not heard of the Dark Brotherhood?" Lucien inquired smiling, because he knew Lelouch did not know the answer. "We are the remorseless guild of paid assassins and homicidal cutthroats who long ago swore their loyalty to the First Emperor? You will find we are all that, and so much more."

"I don't understand, but where is my sister?"

"Nunnally is safe Master Lelouch. She is sleeping soundly in another room." Sayoko said to put the young man's worries to ease.

The brown-eyed maid who had normally worn the traditional black and white maid outfit complete with an apron on was now wearing an all black two-piece suit which was ideal for those skilled in infiltration to use, but oddly through she still wore her maid hat on top of her head. Her short brown hair remained in the same style as it usually has too.

"One of our duties is to protect the royal family even from the Empire itself. The First Emperor foresaw a situation like this one, but was our power not weakened from our losses we suffered during the civil war four hundred years ago we could have dealt with Honest and the other parasites infesting the Empire." Lucien explained with a tint of disgust on his face at the realization the Black Hand was not as large and powerful as it once had been.

"Long ago when the Empire was first founded the First Emperor had the Black Hand as his personal sect of assassins who dealt with many of his enemies within his new Empire and beyond its borders. Just as he had the Teigu created to ensure the Empire he made would last forever the Black Hand served the purpose of protecting the Empire from rot and decay as a result of corruption from within." Sayoko explained joining the conversation. "At the time the Black Hand had hidden bases throughout the Empire and had larger numbers, so if there was anything or anyone who threatened the Empire within or beyond its borders the Black Hand dealt with them."

"We were also charged with another task." Lucien began taking over the conversation from Sayoko. "The Emperor foresaw the possibility that those within the Empire would corrupt it and decay it from within such as men like Honest and others before him. This was apparent during the civil war that happened four hundred years ago when the half-brother of the intended heir to the throne tried to murder and take the throne by force."

"I assume the Black Hand was heavily involved in that?" Lelouch asked which Lucien nodded in response.

"Yes, but unfortunately the losses we suffered during that time have been a huge blow to our order. The rest of the Empire thought the Black Hand was no more, but we survived yet our power was diminished. Your father the Emperor and his father before him knew we still existed slowly rebuilding our strength, but we didn't recover enough it to prevent what happened."

"All we could do was fulfilling our other duty and protect the rightful heir to the throne." Sayoko said with a sad expression upon her face.

"What about my mother?" Lelouch said sadly gripping the sheets.

"She insisted your survival was important than hers. She realized the full extent of what was going to happen so she ordered me to save you and Nunnally." Sayoko answered, but that didn't calm Lelouch as his anger and sorrow was ready to boil over.

"BUT MY MOTHER COULD HAVE BEEN SAVED?"

"You don't grasp the forces that were assembled and the people who Honest had bought off to make your mother's assassination happen. Your mother gave up her life knowing she would die, but she died so you can live." Lucien said sternly. "But if you wish it I can teach you our trade so that you can seek your revenge."

Those words got Lelouch's attention.

"Also there was another duty we were given…to protect a special Teigu the First Emperor had created for those of royal blood for situations like this one." Lucien explained. "But your body must become stronger first and then I'll show you."

* * *

Returning to the present Lelouch was punching a hollow metal tank that was hanging from a chain in the training room of the hideout. For seven years he had trained his body and mind under Lucien's strict training as he was taught everything from hand-to-hand combat, swordsmanship, poisons, tacking, infiltration, stealth, and much more needed for a young man who wanted revenge against the men who murdered his mother and possibly take back what belonged to him.

Lelouch stood throwing punch after punch at the metal punching bag. He was shirtless wearing black pants and boots while his hands were wrapped in cloth. He had delivered enough punches to leave a considerable dent on the side of the metal tank.

After rigorous punching and pushing his body hard during the training regime Lelouch was finally wore out, but it was moments like these is where he had a chance to vent his anger. He wanted to kill the Prime Minister more than anyone else, but his son was also a tempting target as well as he and Lelouch had a history with one another before his mother was murdered. As much as he wanted to find them and kill them now he tempered his rage with patience knowing the time would eventually come. He waited eight years for this, so he could wait another year more if that is what it took.

"Brother?"

Lelouch turned around and saw a young fifteen year old girl slowly approach. She wore a simple white button up shirt with black pants and matching shoes. She had waist-length sandy-blonde hair and purple eyes, which seemed more similar to those that their father had than their mother's.

"Nunnally…I am sorry if I was a little loud."

"Its ok big brother I know you have taken training seriously, but it has done you a lot of good right?" The girl said with a bright smile.

"You're right."

It was true through as the training has done wonders for Lelouch. Eight years ago he was skinny and weak who couldn't even run around the palace fountain without tiring out, but now it was clear the training he had been put through to condition his body from that of a weak scrawny prince into a lean battle hardened assassin. He may have appeared thin, but his arms and chest had more muscle and definition to them than before. Anyone who had known Lelouch as a child would be shocked by how much he had changed in the last eight years.

"How is your training with Sayoko going?"

"It's going well brother." Nunnally replied, although Lelouch wasn't comfortable with the idea of his younger sister learning combat and assassination skills. But Lucien and Sayoko convinced him it would be best if Nunnally knew how to defend herself should the worse case scenario happen. Even if he couldn't be present he could be comforted by the fact his sister knew how to protect herself and escape if the base was invaded or some unforeseeable incident happened where it would be necessary.

"Your majesty…" Sayoko said hurrying into the training hall, dressed in her black attire ideal for an assassin. "Master Lucien wishes to see you."

"It's rare for him to call me like that so it must be something important." Lelouch said before taking a towel from a nearby rack to whip the sweat off of him.

Once he was done he put back on his shirt before leaving the room, but he was wondering what was going on. It had been a few days since he had completed his last mission, so it felt unusual since Lucien himself usually came to tell him of his next mission and not send Sayoko. That was enough to convince Lelouch that whatever this new mission was it was big and it was going to change how he has been operating so far.

It didn't take Lelouch long to reach Lucien's chambers which opened into a spacious study where it contained a small library with a number of books. Some of these books had been written or added to the library at the time of the Empire's founding so some of them you couldn't even find anywhere. The walls were lined with shelves containing books, but in the heart of the room at his desk sat Lucien with a red leather bound book in his hands. It wasn't long before he noticed Lelouch's presence so he put the book down after putting a bookmark within it.

"Thank you for coming promptly your majesty."

"I assume this is something important…you have never called me like this."

"Yes, because this requires us to act quickly because we have a golden opportunity before us." Lucien replied before opening up a draw in his desk to reveal a letter he had received. "According to this information it seems the Empire has dispatched the Three Beasts to intercept a special meeting between village leaders in the south planning to unify with one another before siding with the Revolutionary Army."

"So is this the Prime Minister's doing or General Esdeath?"

"I suppose you can say both, but we know someone among the village leaders meeting has betrayed the meeting to the Empire. To send a clear message the Prime Minister has requested that the Three Beasts be sent to eliminate them."

"I see, so this means it will only be them. Since it's supposed to a secret meeting I assume the leaders with one or two guards for escort will likely be in attendance. They can bring a large force for protection because that would draw too much attention."

"Your assessment is spot on, which means the Three Beasts will be the only enemies you will be facing. This is a chance for us to eliminate them and deprave Esdeath of her strongest soldiers and bodyguards." Lucien said with a serious expression.

"Somehow I doubt this will not be a simple task through. I can't sneak in and poison them."

"You might get lucky on one of them, but I doubt you'll be able to get all of them the same way. I say that because one of your foes will be General Liver, a man with an impressive record. He will be the most dangerous among the three, so you must be ready to use everything at your disposal." The master assassin warned prompting Lelouch to put one hand on the hilt of the sword he kept with him almost at all times. It was in a black scabbard attached to his belt with black demonic wings for a hand-guard and a red fabric wrapped around the hilt with a black spike for the pommel of the blade.

At that moment Lelouch realized something else.

"I see so that is why you called me for this private chat, because after this I cannot come back here can I?"

"No it would be too risky especially since with this fact you will have the Empire seeking your head more than ever now." Lucien explained as Lelouch kept a stern expression on his face. "Besides its time for a king to gather his knights, but I have prepared some instructions and a location you can use as a base."

Lucien handed the letter to Lelouch.

"This tells you the location of one of the Black Hand's old bases which has never been found, but we never had the people around to properly maintain it. It is in useable condition when I last checked, but before you make use of it seek out Taizō Kirihara in the China Town district of the capital. He can assist you further and help provide you with everything you need."

"I assume everything has been arranged then?"

"Yes…all of the jobs you have done have helped provide the funds you would need and Kirihara has made the proper preparations."

"I see, so it's time for me to leave the nest."

"We'll keep your sister safe, but you must leave as soon as possible. You must travel south beyond the capital and find a town called Narita. It is where the Three Beasts will likely rest at once they complete their mission."

"So saving the village leaders is not my mission then?"

"No and considering that one of their own sold out the others cannot be trusted until we learn who the traitor was." Lucien warned.

"Very well I'll begin preparations." Lelouch said sadly as he knew he would not see Nunnally for awhile, but this was all for her sake and more.

' _I'll win this war and I'll kill the Prime Minister and end this.'_ Lelouch thought as his eyes blazed with determination.

* * *

Three days later Lelouch was on his way to the town of Narita where Lucien's intelligence noted was where the Three Beasts was going to stay for the night as they conduct their mission. Lelouch was dressed in more civilian traveling clothing with a tattered brown traveling cloak and hood, although he was carrying the rest of his gear inside his backpack. However he wore a disguise appearing as an old man using make-up, a wig and a beard to disguise his identity while wearing a pair of black sunglasses. As he went he was reviewing some information on his targets as he was traveling as he sat in the back of a wagon that was carrying trade goods to Narita village.

Of course Lelouch didn't know them personally, but he was familiar with their reputations and the intelligence Lucien managed to get off of them. As the caravan made its way to its destination Lelouch began building a plan of attack in which he hoped he could simply infiltrate the place where they are staying and assassinate them while they slept, but as he began reading over the notes with information on all three members it seemed likely a head-on conflict could not be avoided.

' _I could still assassinate them quietly, but I would need to get them one by one. A head on confrontation with all three of them would be both problematic and it could create complications.'_ Lelouch thought, because unlike the corrupt nobles and vile merchants he had been assassination with the occasional soldier these targets were anything but ordinary.

General Liver, the leader of the Three Beasts, was a serious threat on his own. Other than being a renowned general who had earned a great deal of many merits and accomplishment in his life, before the unfortunate incident in which he was framed for crimes he didn't commit landed him in prison where he would have rotted for the rest of his life.

Until he was freed by General Esdeath under the condition she joined her army. For which Liver had swore his unyielding loyalty to the woman becoming leader of the Three Beasts that consisted of her strongest soldiers and those who were her personal bodyguards. Liver was armed with a formidable Teigu called the Water Dragon Possession: Black Marlin which was capable of controlling water and any liquid.

' _Given his experience as a soldier and veteran in the battles he has fought his skill combined with a Teigu like the one he has makes him an extremely dangerous foe.'_ Lelouch thought recognizing the threat Liver would represent, but also beginning to see why killing him and his cohorts was an opportunity they couldn't pass up since without the rest of Esdeath's army or the General herself with them it was worth the risk to remove such dangerous enemies from the war that was to come early while they had the chance.

After contemplating it for a few moments Lelouch had decided against killing General Liver first, but instead he would kill the general last. Even though it would make sense to kill him first because he was the biggest threat, but Lelouch considered the possibility that Liver having been in the service of a sadist like Esdeath and considering her own acts against the enemies of the Empire took into account the possibility of someone probably had attempted to take his life in the past via assassination. Even in prison Lelouch had also contemplated possible attempts on his life might have been made, so after weighing the risks and possibilities Lelouch decided to kill Liver last as a precaution.

' _If combat cannot be avoided I would be better off facing Liver one-on-one than his subordinates fighting with him.'_

Moving on Lelouch went down the list and looked at the next member of the Three Beasts, Daidara, who according to the information Lelouch was given on him was a battle fanatic and a brute. Like his superior he was also armed with a Teigu called Double-Bladed Axe: Belvaac, which required considerable strength to wield, was capable of separating into two axes that could be thrown and chase the target until it hits.

' _He might be an easier first target, but if it came down to facing him in combat I believe I could take him.'_ The eighteen year old former prince thought contemplating that a brute like Daidara would be potentially easier to assassinate than his superior. If he ended up facing Daidara in combat Lelouch was confident he could face him should the situation change.

Then the last and final member, who could be the second most troublesome of the Three Beasts was the youngest of the trio Nyau. The Teigu he possessed called the Military Music Dream: Scream would present the most problematic complications if Lelouch ended up facing the Three Beasts in combat should something go wrong. From the information the Black Hand had on the Teigu its power allows it to manipulate the emotions of those who hear it using hypnosis. When in the hands of a skilled user and placed within a group or even an army it could be used in raising morale on the battlefield or decreasing willpower to make all people who hear it lose energy. The only counter against it was someone affected by it to hurt themselves with a cut or something painful to break the hypnosis.

' _Combined with the other two beasts they make a very formidable team with such a Teigu.'_ Lelouch thought, because even he had to admit the set up and the Teigu they had made them an excellent combat unit with abilities complimenting one another in both close quarters and long range combat with superb support. _'Alright I'll need to take out Nyau first so can't use his Teigu to aid his comrades in battle…then I'll take out Daidara before going after Liver.'_

With his plan set Lelouch only needed to get to the village now.

Lelouch had the caravan drop him off at another town that was a decent walking distance away from Narita Village, so by the time he arrived in Narita Village it was late afternoon. The village itself was larger than he had imagined with a number of trading posts and inns dotted around the town since it was one of the primary hubs of trading in the southern region of the Empire. It had over a dozen homes for the populace with some stores and on the outskirts a number of farms.

To his surprise he found the Three Beasts hadn't arrived in the village yet which gave Lelouch a chance to conduct an examination of the hotel the Three Beasts were planning to stay at before heading back to the capital. He walked through the town going to a three-story building with a green paint job done to the building with a red roof while the rest of the building looked like one of those buildings from the China Town district of the capital. After walking inside the inn Lelouch approached the owner of Jasmine Dragon Inn who was an elderly man with a hunched back wearing a white button up shirt with black pants holding a cane while he carried his keys on a large ring that hung from his belt.

Knowing the Three Beasts were renting out the whole inn for themselves for the night Lelouch entered the inn planning to claim he was traveling ahead of a trader's caravan to check out the local inns for a good place to rest for his employer.

"Ah welcome to the Jasmine Dragon…I am the inn keeper Dan, but I must regrettably inform you that we have no rooms." The inn keeper said opening his book, but Lelouch looked down on it to see the names of Liver and his men. Lelouch took note of the room numbers that had been set aside for them.

"Oh that is a pity, but it's not so bad I suppose. You see I was asked by my employer to ask about the rooms and how many you could accommodate when his caravan arrives the day after tomorrow?" Lelouch asked working on disguising his voice and acting out the part of an old man.

"Really now," Dan said with a grin on his face appearing. "Well I suppose there is no harm to make some reservations now. The guess I have staying right now should be gone by then."

"That is fortunate then, but if you don't mind I would like a tour of the place. I am sure it shouldn't be any trouble." Lelouch said giggling a small bag of gold coins.

"I am sure a little tour so you can know how many my inn can accommodate shouldn't be an issue." Dan said before he led Lelouch on a tour of the inn.

During the tour he was shown where all of the rooms were located which were on the second and third floors while the first floor had a dining room, kitchen and Dan's office while the basement was where they stored their supplies and spare bedding and cleaning supplies. Of course it was also where the plumbing for the inn's water was located, although they didn't go down there Lelouch was told the inn's complete layout. During the tour Lelouch took note of the layout in his own way as he was looking for places where he could lie in wait and ways he could gain entry into the inn. Of course during the tour Lelouch took care to notice which key Dan used to unlock certain doors and noticed a bronze key he had acted as a kind of master key for the rooms of the inn while the other keys he had must have been for his own home and others. They might have been spare keys he might have handed out to maids and other employees of the inn through, but Lelouch didn't see him use any of them through.

Of course there was the possibly the other keys could have been decoys which some inn owners in small towns and villages usually did to prevent anyone from stealing their keys or even if they stole one chances are they have taken the wrong one. Lelouch quietly drew an old rusty metal marble out from his pocket contemplating what kind of distraction he could create, but thankfully he didn't have to resort to one. One of the maids as the two was exploring the rooms on the second floor had an accident when a stray cat that had gotten in from the kitchen ran pass the maid surprising her causing her to fall back and drop a number of sheets she had been carrying. The inn keeper accidently dropped his keys as he had been using his master key to unlock the door as he rushed over to help the woman.

Seeing this as his chance Lelouch knelt down and picked up the keys, but he slipped out a small black box from his sleeve and quickly opened it to make a perfect impression of the master key the inn keeper used so later Lelouch could make his own key to use later.

"I am sorry you had to see that, but this town has a problem with stray cats."

"Don't worry about it I have seen some of the other villages near here have some similar issues." Lelouch said, but deep down he was grateful for the cat's actions.

After finishing the tour Lelouch bid the inn keeper good day and left. It was almost sundown, but not long after Lelouch successfully used the impression he had made of the inn keeper's key he saw the Three Beasts arrive in town before making their way to the inn. Lelouch was still in his disguise as he sat at a small indoor café that sat across the street from the inn allowing him to quietly observe. He saw General Liver and his companions arrive before heading into the motel. The three men wore identical uniforms with some differences between them, which were black suits trimmed with gray and black ties. Liver was the oldest among them with gray hair tied into a ponytail with a beard and blue eyes. Daidara as his personality would suggest was a large muscle bound brute with blonde hair and white eyes while the youngest among them had blonde hair and more of a child-like appearance.

' _Tonight I'll strike, but first there are some things I'll need to take care of first.'_ Lelouch thought as he went over his plan one more time in his mind while including everything he had learned about the inn during the tour he had with its owner earlier.

* * *

Hours later after midnight when most of the town was asleep Lelouch now out of his old man disguise and dressed up as Zero made his move. Using the key he had made Lelouch infiltrated the inn through the service door in the back, but instead of heading to the rooms upstairs Lelouch went downstairs into the basement making his way to the water pipes that provided water for the inn. First he shut off the water so if combat with Liver was unavoidable he hoped this would limit the water he would have access to. After that was done Lelouch quietly made his way upstairs for the third floor where he found that Nyau had taken the third floor with his room at the end of the hall while Liver and Daidara had their rooms at the opposite end of the hallway.

He sneaked pass their rooms without any problems and made his way to Nyau's room, but when he arrived he noticed something odd.

When he passed by Liver and Daidara's rooms he didn't see any lights were still on. It was well past midnight and Lelouch was wondering what the boy was doing up late at this hour. Lelouch couldn't gain entry through the outside from the windows and he didn't want to risk waiting since if someone woke up later to use the bathroom or to fetch water they would notice the water was out. Weighting his opinions Lelouch decided to peek inside the room through the keyhole trying to see if Nyau was asleep and maybe he just left the light on by accident. He didn't see the young man in his bed, but he saw movement by the bathroom. Lelouch presumed Nyau was occupied with something and saw it as his chance to kill the young man without alerting the others.

' _You just need to be really quiet Lelouch.'_ Lelouch thought to himself before using his key to unlock the door before slowly opening it.

As expected Nyau was sitting in front of a mirror atop one of the tables with a cosmetics case of some kind sitting on the table before him, but as Lelouch slowly closed the door before approaching his target a cloud of smoke enveloped Nyau as the blonde haired body became a light auburn haired girl with red eyes wearing a butterfly headphone accessory on her head with a red ribbon attached to it. She wore a vocalist-like clothing consisting of a white long sleeve shirt with the collar tied with a red ribbon under a black vest a red checkered mini skirt, and black leather below-the-knee boots.

' _What?!'_ Lelouch thought as he didn't expect that. Lelouch began reconsidering his plan and began thinking about how to proceed since now it was clear that someone else had killed Nyau before him and was impersonating him. _'Damn it this is unexpected, but what do I do…kill her or leave her…no I can't just ignore her.'_

Chelsea sat in the room that was supposed to be Nyau's and looked herself over using the mirror in front of her. _'I know that Gaea Foundation allows me to replicate the appearance of others but that doesn't mean Liver and Daidara can't see through the disguise if I am reckless'_ , the assassin thought as she made sure she had the appearance and disguise down perfectly despite not being seen through in about three days since that meeting she and her fellow assassins were suppose to provide security for went south.

As she was putting a few needles in secret pockets within the outfit, Chelsea noticed movement at the edge of the mirror's view.

' _So someone is trying to assassinate the assassin? It can't be Daidara due to his size preventing him from being that stealthy and Liver wouldn't bother with the stealth since he shouldn't suspect me of not being Nyau yet.'_ Chelsea thought as she subtly placed a few of her needles between her fingers.

Once she saw the trespasser move again, Chelsea threw the needles barely missing Zero's body but the distraction she created as she evaded him allowed her to snap to her feet and rush the man holding a poisoned needle to the throat of the intruder.

"Didn't your mother ever tell you that it's rude to walk in on a girl getting dressed?" Chelsea said holding a needle to Lelouch's neck while the young man had his right hand pointed at the woman.

"I thought Nyau was supposed to be shorter, blonde and a man?" The masked figure said as he tried to back away from the needles, but he couldn't.

"I killed him and took his identity as a disguise when the Three Beasts killed my team." Chelsea explained much to Zero's surprise. Well that could be one less person to take out, Zero thought as he was still unsure of whether he would need to kill the imposter.

"So why should I spare this perverted assassin who would just break into a girl's room without permission?" Chelsea teased as she pulled a lollipop out with her free hand and kept the other one ready to stick a poison needle into Lelouch if he tried anything.

' _It's been three days since I could really enjoy one of these'_ , the girl thought as she inserted it into her mouth.

"If you kill me the other two are going to be confused as to when Nyau started to use needles to fight and begin to suspect that you are an imposter if they don't kill you right off the bat. I wasn't aware of you, but my intelligence told me the Three Beasts were sent to wipe out a meeting made up of members from some of the villages in the area. Your Teigu must be Gaea Foundation, which as I understand belongs to a member of Night Raid's group that operates outside of the capital. Now based on your words from moments ago I assume your team must have been providing security at the meeting on behalf of the revolutionary army. That lets me conclude that you're the lone survivor of the group and I doubt they will send the other team if there is one." Zero said before adding. "Oh and if you attempt to kill me I think I'll kill you before that poison takes effect."

Lelouch drove his point home as Chelsea heard the sound of a gun cocking, which led the girl to notice that next to a hidden blade compartment under his wrist Chelsea saw a small gun concealed right next to it.

"I guess we're at a stalemate here." Chelsea said before contemplating her thoughts and options.

' _He isn't part of the military since he wouldn't have come in here alone and dressed like some vigilante superhero if he was. He talked about Night Raid as if he wasn't part of it so he isn't one of the capital members or sent by Najenda. He can't be an amateur since they would never have gotten past Liver or Daidara. That only leaves Zero as the only logical option. If I kill him then we will have to report to Esdeath and I know I won't survive that encounter and he does seem to be the fastest way of getting revenge.'_ Chelsea realized as she became the record holder for the longest lasting witness of Zero.

"Alright I'll spare you this time if you extend the courtesy and not kill me once I help you," Chelsea said as she withdrew her poison needle from Lelouch's neck.

"You've got yourself a deal." Lelouch replied before thinking, ' _but I'll turn this around to my advantage!'_

After the tension between them died down them the woman eyed her would be assassin over before a thought came to mind.

"Wait, are you Zero?" Chelsea was about to burst into laughter the moment she lay eyes onto the mysterious Zero the assassin The Empire has been trouble dealing with for the past year while Night Raid has been trying to figure him out equally as long. ' _This is the guy? Really? Yeah he dresses almost similar to someone marching off to battle, but the design is way off like some kind of superhero.'_ The Black motif was dead obvious like that one hero teenage boys gush over about. "Aren't you a little old to be playing superhero?"

"I think you are hardly in a position to judge me." Lelouch said trying to mask his annoyance at the girl.

"I have been an assassin much longer than you, so yes I do have a right to criticize." Chelsea said as a grin appeared on her face.

' _When this is over I really do want to see what is under that mask.'_

* * *

A/N: Another chapter is done and with one of the Three Beasts dead they got two left, but its two on two now so chances of Lelouch completing his mission seems high provided he does not suffer any more mistakes or complications he didn't plan for. Unlike his previous targets Lelouch isn't going to catch them so easily unaware and also Chelsea revealing herself like that before Lelouch could assassinate Nyau caught him by surprise which gave Chelsea enough time to notice his presence and react.

Tatsumi will make his appearance in the story soon.

In the meantime I am going to try and update one of my other fics, so please any feedback/reviews are welcomed.

Thank you in advance…


	3. Chapter 3 Demons

A/N: a bit later than I had planned, but best I do not rush work like this given what I got planned later in this story so it feels like I am walking over eggshells when doing some of Lelouch's scenes. I wish this chapter turned out better especially involving the Three Beasts, but trying to consider anything that was happening I ended up choosing this as the best route.

A quick shout out to draconichero21 for the ideas for Lelouch's Teigu, I originally was going to go with something different but I was convinced to go with something a little more familiar, but let's leave it at that.

Another topic of discussion was who would Lelouch best be paired with and we narrowed it down to three choices, not in my particular order.

It will be Chelsea, Mine or Sheele.

One of them will end up in a romantic relationship with Lelouch, but depending on who Lelouch develops the strongest bond with will determine who will win his heart and be the character to stand with him for that important moment in what determine the direction in which his life will go. Draco knows what I intend, so the choices we discussed was narrowed down to these three based on that. Although he strongly advised me that Mine was the best choice considering what I got in mind for Lelouch later, but Sheele might be an ok choice. Chelsea was questionable, but considering how others I discussed the idea of Mine and Lelouch as a possible couple reacted I am going to keep Chelsea and Lelouch as a possibility.

Anyway thank you all for the reviews and enjoy the chapter.

* * *

Chapter 3

Demons

After the agreement between the two assassins was struck Lelouch formed a new plan, although it was risky it did provide a higher success rate than the first. Lelouch would sneak into Liver's room to take out the aged general, but in the likely possibility he wakes up and attacks Chelsea in the guise of Nyau would assassinate Daidara when he would attempt to aid Liver. Lelouch would have gone after Daidara first as he had originally planned, but he found that the second oldest of the Three Beasts had barred his room using furniture. Although this added a complication to his plans, but this merely confirmed Lelouch's suspicions that others before him had likely tried to assassinate them while they slept which probably meant assassinating Liver would not be easy as he thought.

In fact a battle between them seemed certain now.

"So what are you going to do?"

"I'll prepare a plan B just in case a battle breaks out, but rather I should say when it happens. I suspected I am not the first person to attempt assassinating them like this, but what I found with Daidara barricading his own room like he has done confirms it." Lelouch said to Chelsea as the two were discussing a chance in plan.

"What is Plan B?"

"I was hoping not to resort to this kind of tactic, but with the situation as it is...I have no choice." Lelouch said before drawing out a bomb from his bag. "These are just something with a little something extra to give them a little kick."

"That's a bomb right, so what kind of kick are we talking about?" Chelsea asked eyeing the explosive ordinance.

"If I put this in the right place it should be enough to level this place." Lelouch explained.

"That probably won't be enough?"

"Maybe so, but if a fight breaks out using this could wound them, kill them if I am lucky or create an opening I can use. But before that we need to take out Daidara first."

"You said he was in his room and you can't get to him right?"

"You are correct, but if Liver is under attack he'll come help him and that is where you'll come in." Lelouch said as Chelsea realized her intended role in this.

"You want me to kill him?"

"Yes and if the situation allows it you should have a good opportunity."

"You realize that is a very risky gamble?" Chelsea noted while sucking on her lollipop.

"I do, but it's better than whatever you had planned compared to my previous plan wasn't it?" Lelouch asked which Chelsea found no room to argue against.

However if the situation demanded it then Lelouch had a trump card to play. The Teigu which Lucien had given him could only be used by a member of the royal family would turn the battle to his favor. However considering he had Chelsea with him he feared that if he used it and she saw its ability in action he worried it would lead to his true identity being exposed. He wasn't even using it now preferring not to become overly dependent on its use.

' _I'll use it if I have no other choice, but I'll use it to kill him.'_

The Teigu he had wasn't so much of a combat Teigu, but it was still considerably powerful in its own right. Although he could use it on Liver and his followers towards a different purpose, but Lelouch decided against it for another set of reasons which he decided would be best for his long-term goals.

"But don't worry I have a trump card to play if things get out of hand."

"Well ok then."

Putting his plan into action Lelouch snuck out of the room he and Chelsea had been talking in and went down into the basement to plant the bomb in the right location so he could get the most devastation out of the resulting blast. It would probably destroy the inn thanks to its placement under the gas thank used for heating, hot water and cooking in the inn, but to accomplish the mission now he couldn't hold back no matter what. Sneaking his way back up stairs he went for Liver's room upon which he began unlocking it silently.

Unlike Daidara's room Liver's room wasn't bared shut from the inside, but still Lelouch was on high alert as he could feel his body tense up in a mix of anticipation and alertness knowing that Liver won't be a simple kill like his previous targets had been. Liver was sound asleep, but Lelouch felt a sensation in his stomach telling him he shouldn't approach any further. He thought about just blowing up the inn, but he knew the resulting explosion would not only draw the local guards but it would also make recovering their Teigu more difficult.

' _Of course there is the chance the explosion wouldn't be enough to kill them.'_

Lelouch thought about planting the bomb under Liver's room and blow it up, but then he would have Daidara to deal with still. Of course Lelouch wanted to be sure he could recover Liver's Teigu and make a swift escape before the guards could descend on this place.

' _If this whole inn is blown up then the response to the guards should be keeping the fire contained and getting the fire department to put out the flames. I just have to hope they are under the impression that it was an accident and not an assassination attempt.'_ Lelouch thought, but he knew the moment those explosives went off he would need to kill his targets, get their Teigu and get out of town fast.

Deciding against approaching any closer Lelouch readied his blow-dart gun on his left wrist which carried a powerful poison similar to what he had used on his last job, but more concentrated so the result should kill Liver within a few minutes. Taking a deep breath Lelouch took aim ready to strike the neck and kill the aged general in one shot. Hesitating for a moment to be sure he didn't notice anything to indicate that he was awake or showed signs of being aware of his presence.

Lelouch fired the dart gun releasing its deadly projectile silently, but right before hitting its mark Liver's eyes opened as he lashed out with a knife he concealed under his pillow deflecting the dart. Seeing the opportunity Lelouch fired the one-shot pistol he had in his other forearm bracer, but Liver jumped out of bed to dodge the bullet.

Drawing his sword Lelouch rushed at the aged general to attack him, but using his Teigu upon his ring finger Liver used the water inside a serving jug to attack Lelouch. Forming the water into a whip the old general fought back while trying to go for his own sword as well. Lelouch dodged the whip while he rushed forward to attack with his sword, but Liver managed to parry it as the two locked blades.

"So another assassin comes to claim my life."

"I am not surprised you were sleeping with a knife under your pillow." Lelouch mused with a grin under his mask.

"A black mask, so could you be the infamous Zero?"

"Perhaps I am."

* * *

Meanwhile as their confrontation happened Daidara was awoken by the sound of the gunshot fired by Lelouch's hidden gun prompting him to remove the item blocking the door leading into his room. Outside he found a seemingly worried Nyau who as far as Daidara believed had come out at the sound of the gunshot alerting him there was trouble.

"Damn it we got another assassin on our hands. Nyau go get the guards just in case there are more of them." Daidara said readying his axe-like Teigu for use, but as he turned his back to the blonde haired boy he felt his body go numb moments later after Chelsea used her needles to swiftly assassinate the muscular bound blonde.

"Sorry, but Nyau has been dead for the last couple of days. Give that despicable brat my regards." Chelsea said as a shocked Daidara fell onto the ground face first onto the ground dying seconds later.

Chelsea decided to leave the inn knowing what Lelouch intended to do next, but she made sure to pick up Daidara's Teigu putting it into a sack she had to holding Nyau's Teigu. Once she had both Teigu secured in her bag she fled the inn just as Lelouch used his free hand to reach for a remote detonator he had for the bomb he placed in the basement.

"I hope you weren't expecting an easy kill with me boy." Liver said as he tried to use his Teigu to draw more water to him, but he found none around him he could use.

"Of course not, which was why I made sure to give myself as much of an advantage as possible." Lelouch replied before diving out a window upon which he triggered the bomb in the basement. Lelouch was on the ground when he set off the explosives while Liver also chose to follow Lelouch realizing the danger he was in. Although the resulting explosion from a powerful fertilizer bomb. It also helped that Lelouch had placed it where gas stored to be used for the heater and for cooking was kept adding more of a destructive kick to the explosion.

The fact that Lelouch closed all of the values on the boiler to build up pressure would add to the resulting explosion.

The foundations of the hotel was blown apart and Lelouch would have been injured if he hadn't guided across the air landing in the alleyway across the street taking cover behind some boxes as the inn came apart under the explosions that tore its foundations apart. Liver was caught in the blast and thrown across the ground injuring him slightly, but tipping the balance more in Lelouch's favor who remained for the most part unharmed.

Rising to his feet Liver surveyed the damage, but a moment later he saw a seemingly injured Daidara coming up to him holding his arm with his left arm.

"Are you alright?"

"What happened to Nyau?" Liver demanded.

"I am not sure I was barely out of my room when that explosion brought the whole place down on me." Daidara answered.

Liver was trying to recover from his injuries didn't show it, but he was suspicious as something didn't feel right. Unfortunate he didn't have time to dwell on it as Zero emerged from the alleyway with his sword River was ready with his blade, but Daidara began to approach Liver from behind just as he and Lelouch were about to cross swords once more. All in all Liver was impressed by how well prepared his enemy had been from rigging the hotel to explode and from cutting off the hotel's water to limit the effectiveness of his Teigu.

' _Yet something still feels off.'_ Liver thought as he and Lelouch crossed swords, but to his growing amazement the masked man held his own matching every blow. But Lelouch had yet to see an opening he could exploit.

After jumping back Liver had his back to Daidara, but at that moment he felt a needle beginning to go into his neck. Reacting instantly he spun around while at the same time he jumped away swatting the needle from his neck. He cut towards Daidara with his sword, but because of the quickness of his escape he didn't leave a fatal wound but he did wound Chelsea as she fell back with the effects of her Teigu fading to reveal her true form.

Liver's eyes went wide now realizing what had been going on.

"I see, so Nyau and Daidara are dead…eliminated one by one by you." Liver said glaring at the wounded woman as she clutched her torso.

But Liver didn't escape Chelsea's attempt to kill him unharmed as he could feel his arms and legs were a little sluggish now. Lelouch resumed his attack, but realized he needed to end this now, especially as he raise Liver preparing to use Chelsea's blood as a source of water to compensate for the lack of a more easily accessible water source.

Reluctantly Lelouch decided to use his Teigu as he pushed a special button along the side of the mask opening a small panel that revealed his right eye.

' _I didn't want to use this, but I have little choice now.'_

"Liver," Lelouch roared prompting the man to look over his shoulder making eye contact with him. "I command you to die."

Lelouch's orders was followed by a glowing red light from his right eye which caught Liver in a spell of some kind as he brought his own sword to his throat.

"As you command!" Liver replied before committing suicide by using his own blade to slit his own throat.

Lelouch's Teigu, one that only his bloodline could use, granted him the power of absolute obedience giving him the power for just one to give an order to anyone he wished and they would carry out that order without question. Lelouch had been against using it, but only because if anyone realized what his Teigu was he feared it would lead to his true identity being exposed which would prompt the Prime Minister to use everything at his disposal to get rid of him. He did use it from time to time, but only when he was certain he could cover up his usage of the Teigu and leave no evidence of him using it behind.

Using his sword Lelouch quickly delivered some cuts with his blade before beheading Liver to cover up the suicide, but after leaving his calling card upon the body he quickly confiscated his Teigu before turning his attention to Chelsea.

"What did you do to him?" Chelsea asked holding the cut on her torso.

"I'll tell you later, but we need to go now." Lelouch said helping the woman to his feet, but he was glad to see her bag she had which was filled with the Teigu that had belonged to Daidara and Nyau.

Even through Lelouch hadn't planned on having someone leave town with him he did have an escape route already prepared. Despite the injury Chelsea and Lelouch quickly hurried away from the area just as members of the Fire Brigade and the local guard arrived on the scene. The two made their way down to the river where Lelouch had a boat prepared for a quick getaway. He helped Chelsea into the boat before untying it from the dock with Lelouch pushing it away before proceeding down the river quickly.

' _Once we're clear of the town there is a small cabin we can stop at.'_ Lelouch thought as he prepared a small abandoned cabin Lucien had noted inside the notes he had given Lelouch as a good place to fall back to before making his way back to the capital. He could tend to Chelsea's wound there before they continue on, but of course he was faced with the issue of what he could do with her.

' _Leaving her behind had its own risks and problems that it could bring especially if it leads to hostility between me and Night Raid.'_ Lelouch thought, but he wasn't certain if it would be wise for him to bring her along.

Chelsea was quiet, but she was thankful Zero was bringing her along to escape with him. She couldn't help but wonder what Zero had in mind for her. It seemed killing her was unlikely otherwise he could have very easily have done so back in town, but because she knew next to nothing about him she didn't know what to think. The duo traveled down river in silence for a full hour, but what Chelsea couldn't figure out was how Zero was able to see in the pitch-black darkness around them.

Along the way, once they were safely clear of the town, Lelouch applied a cream-like substance to her wound to help ease the pain and the bleeding until he could reach a safe place to treat it more properly.

Never the less after another hour of travel he directed the boat into a small lagoon, which the small river leading into it was hidden behind some bushes and some branches making it difficult to spot unless you knew where it was. The area was thick with bushes and trees making a good hideout, but Lelouch remained alert in the event anyone else had decided to make use of the cabin since he had inspected it earlier today.

Once he was sure the close was clear Lelouch helped Chelsea into the cabin.

The interior of the cabin had the obvious signs he hadn't been used in a long time, but the structure was still stable and intact. It had a table with some chairs and the wooden frame of a twin bed. However there was no bed in the frame leaving it bare. Lelouch had earlier placed thick black strips of leather over the windows to block out the light of the lamp Lelouch was lighting that hung from the ceiling. To an outside observer the cabin was still dark and abandoned.

"I better tend to your wound immediately." Lelouch said as he gestured for Chelsea to get onto the table and lay down so he could tend to her.

Chelsea unbuttoned and opened her vest before undoing the buttons of her dress shirt around her wound allowing Lelouch better access to it while keeping the rest of her shirt buttoned up. The cut was above the stomach, but fortunately as Lelouch suspected it didn't cut too deep but it could become a problem if left untreated. Chelsea laid back as Lelouch went to work on treating the wound by first bringing out a field medical kit he had on hand. He began by cleaning the area around the wound, which caused Chelsea to grunt in pain while doing her best to keep still despite fighting her body's urge to get away from what was causing the pain to flare up.

Once he was finished Lelouch began tending to the wound.

It was fortunate for the female assassin that aside from assassination techniques he had been taught a member of field medical skills in which he could tend to most wounds sustained in his line of work. Chelsea's wound wasn't serious, but if left untreated it could have been a problem.

"Good news is you won't need stitches."

"Well that is good, but is there any bad news?"

"No, but you should probably take a break from assassination missions until this heals." Lelouch said before bringing out a cream to help the wound and prevent infection.

"I think after this I could use a short vacation." Chelsea mused with a grin before she felt a sharp pain shoot through her as Lelouch had finished with the wound and was bandaging it.

"Could you lift yourself a little?" The masked man requested.

Chelsea did as instructed as Lelouch wrapped the bandage around her torso, but he made sure it was tight enough to prevent the wound from reopening while it healed and loose enough so it wouldn't cause too much discomfort and hinder her movements. After finishing Chelsea lowered herself onto the table gently despite a feeling of some slight comfort, but she did feel a lot better compared to earlier.

"I don't know what you used, but thanks…I feel much better." Chelsea said complimenting the young man.

"It's something we found that work very well on helping wounds heal and prevent them from bleeding. The other solution I used on you earlier was similar, but it was more designed towards being a quick temporary solution to wounds like the one you got to stop the bleeding until a safer location could be reached for treatment and rest." Lelouch explained, but he decided to withhold where exactly the ingredients for the solutions and cream he had that made up his first aid kit came from.

' _I somehow doubt she would like to know that I rubbed venom of a Chaurus larva mixed with the crushed egg sacs of those spiders that infest the caves near the hideout.'_ Lelouch thought, although he couldn't deny how effective the various healing concoctions Lucien and his followers created from such ingredients. The venom of the Chaurus is very deadly, but the undeveloped venom sacs of the larva possess healing properties when prepared correctly are excellent for treating injuries especially those from bladed weapons. That said through he remembered how Nunnally reacted to finding out what the ingredients were since after Sayoko rescued them she had to use one such concoction to mend a injury Nunnally sustained.

The poor girl didn't react well to what the healing cream had been made from, so he thought it was best not to mention it to Chelsea.

"So what happens now? Are you going to do something to me with that mind control power?"

"No I have no intention of doing that. Even if I did use it to enslave you it would only hinder your skills and abilities as an assassin." Lelouch answered before explaining. "Early on while experimenting with it on some assassination targets I found that while enthralled to my Teigu their abilities to operate independently and creatively had been limited as they act according to my orders."

"Then building an army of mind controlled servants was out of the question then?"

"Yes they would have only been good as wasteful canon fodder." Lelouch said before adding. "However I have found it useful during combat situations as you saw with Liver and for interrogation purposes as well too."

"Well that sounds handy then."

"It's problematic as well, which was why I craved up Liver's body as I did to hide the fact I had him commit suicide. If they figured out my Teigu's abilities it would be a problem for me in more ways than one."

"You're worry people would realize what you are doing and find ways to defend themselves against your ability right?"

"Not only that, but there is another reason I do not wish to explain right now."

"Oh…something personal I take it."

Lelouch was silent, but his silence was enough of an answer for Chelsea.

"Knowledge of the abilities of my Teigu isn't the only reason I am keeping you, but if you prove to me I can trust you I'll tell you why."

"So it's really THAT personal then?" Chelsea asked raising an eyebrow.

"You could say that, but I know that if you died or anything negative happens to you could cause me to have an antagonistic relationship with Night Raid, which I do not want to deal with since fighting a war on two fronts would be counterproductive."

"What makes you think I won't try to escape?"

"One you are injured and even though I tended to your wound you are hardly in any shape to be traveling on your own. Second would you be really throwing away an opportunity to form an alliance between me and Night Raid, which by extension would mean with the Revolutionary Army." Lelouch pointed out while grinning under his mask, although it was a risky gambit upon itself. But Lelouch knew he would need allies and powerful Teigu wielders to help him deal with the stronger of the Empire's warriors if he wanted to get to Prime Minister Honest and his son.

Chelsea pondered the possibly and she knew the Revolutionary Army was very interested in recruiting Zero, but she also wondered why Zero was very concerned about trust.

"No I don't want to be the one who ruined that chance, but why exactly are you so concerned about trust?"

"I have certain difficulties when it comes to trusting others due to…past experience. I want to be sure I can trust Night Raid and the Revolutionary Army before I am willing to reveal anything to them."

The female assassin eyed Zero trying to figure out why he would be insistent on building a trust before revealing himself let alone agreeing to any kind of alliance.

"Is it because you are really ugly under that mask?" Chelsea said deadpan.

"That's not the issue." Lelouch shot back.

* * *

A few days later Seryu and Suzaku were dispatched to the town of Narita to collect information the demise of the Three Beasts for their superiors. Word was that it was Zero, but instead of some minor military captain or rich wealthy merchant his targets were the infamous Three Beasts led by General Liver and the personal bodyguards to General Esdeath. The duo with Seryu's Teigu Koro in tow arrived in the town with the wreckage of the inn and the surrounding street cornered off. There were some members of the local police who had patrolled the area to ensure no one came in or out until the Garrison arrived from the capital to collect their report and investigate the area.

"Step aside I am Seryu Ubiquitous of the Capital Garrison! A Hero of Justice!" Seryu declared while showing her badge.

Suzaku was quiet as he followed Seryu who began speaking with the captain who had been put in charge of the area and keeping civilians out.

The two were informed that by the time they arrived they found General Liver dead with his head having been cleaved off by who they are convinced the killer was Zero since his calling card had been found at the scene next to Liver's body. The body of Daidara, or what was left of it, was found inside the remains of the burnt building. The only one seemingly unaccounted for was Nyau whose body had yet to be found, but the Teigu owned by Liver and Daidara had been obviously taken by Zero.

Unlike most assassinations involving Zero it was obviously a fight broke out, but it seemed Liver was the only one who managed to fight back before he was killed.

' _But it seems Zero was ready for Liver.'_ Suzaku thought as he overheard that they had found water to the inn had been cut off before it was destroyed when the fire brigade went to close the pipes to stop water from flowing into the building which would have been wasted at that point for obvious reasons. The bomb seemed excessive, but Suzaku knew Liver by reputation along with the Three Beasts. _'Zero wasn't taking any chances.'_

The fact that Nyau's body wasn't found troubled Suzaku. Could it mean that one of them had betrayed his comrades to Zero and helped him?

' _Somehow that doesn't make any sense, but still it's odd his body hasn't been found.'_ Suzaku thought with one hand on his chin as he was in deep thought.

* * *

As Suzaku and Seryu continued their investigation while collecting everything for a proper report for their superiors word of what had happened to the Three Beasts had reached not only the capital, but it had passed along to another group of assassins. The members of Night Raid minus their leader was seated at the dinner table as Akame wearing her favorite apron with a cute animal printed upon it served everyone lunch. It wasn't long before their leader Najenda joined them with a neutral expression on her face as she sat down at the head of the table.

The former general of the Empire wore her preferred attire of a black suit, her matching eye patch that covered her missing eye while her right arm she had lost in the same incident that took her eye had been replaced with a green armored plated prosthetic replacement. She had light silver hair with a purple eye and a fair skin complexion.

"I just received word that Zero has struck again." Najenda announced surprising some of the members of Night Raid.

"Who was it this time some pompous merchant who finally got what he deserved?" Mine said sounding indifferent before eating a pancake.

"No it was the Three Beasts." Their leader announced stunning everyone present including Bulat.

"He assassinated all of them, including General Liver?"

Najenda nodded in response before she continued.

"Unlike the other times it seemed a fight broke out between him and General Liver, which I guess Zero must have known he wouldn't be easy since he apparently blew up the inn he and his subordinates."

"That seems a little excessive." Lubbock commented before eating a sausage patty.

"General Liver was a great general of the empire and a soldier before receiving his Teigu which made him more dangerous than before. I had heard there were assassination attempts on him in prison and even after he started working under General Esdeath, so I think a battle was unavoidable." Bulat said recalling from the time he had served under him before his imprisonment, which was a key factor in Bulat defecting to the Revolutionary Army before joining Night Raid.

"You aren't holding a grudge Bulat?" Najenda asked out of concern because he knew how close he and Liver had been as friends.

"No, although I am surprised Zero defeated him. If we were to cross paths again I am sure a fight between me and Liver would have been unavoidable, which only one of us would walk away from." Bulat responded, although it was regrettable he knew from what he had been hearing about Liver's service under Esdeath. More than anything he imagined Liver was probably greatly indebted to her, which would have made him loyal to the Empire's strongest warrior. "But I am curious about this Zero."

"We might have a chance at that, because this information came along with word that Night Raid's team that operates beyond the capital has been nearly wiped out."

"What do you mean by that?" Leone asked after she finished eating an apple.

"A couple of days ago near the town where the Three Beasts were killed a meeting was taking place among the village leaders and representatives of the Revolutionary Army. The Night Raid team for taking missions beyond the capital was asked by HQ to provide extra security. The Empire obviously got word as someone sold them out, which prompted them to ask Esdeath to send her personal bodyguards in to wipe them out."

"But what happened to the last member of the team through?" Akame asked.

"She managed to survive as the body of Nyau, a member of the three beasts, had been found in the river when a group from the Revolutionary Army had been dispatched to find out what happened when they lost contact." Najenda said before pausing to think about something before continuing. "The only one who could have killed him and likely taken his place was Chelsea…her Teigu allows her to assume whatever form she wants. She might have infiltrated the Three Beasts after killing Nyau likely planning to avenge her comrades."

"So what you are saying is that Zero probably had some unexpected help?" Bulat asked.

"Yes because so far they only found two bodies, one belongs to General Liver and the other to his subordinate Daidara. Nyau's body hasn't been found at the inn, so it's likely Chelsea is alive and she is with Zero."

"Would Zero kill her for being a witness?" Mine inquired.

"Somehow I doubt that, because considering the potential negative repercussions that could bring. But it would confirm whose side he is really on through."

"So what do we do then?" Lubbock asked.

"For now there isn't anything we can do except wait and see."

* * *

Around the same time in a swap located a distance away from the capital where Lelouch and Chelsea were navigating the treacherous terrain. It was an unpleasant place, but even more so it was filled with high-level danger beasts so it made this region fairly remote. The swamp however made it even more dangerous for travelers as you had various creatures that didn't actively hunt like some Danger Beasts, but in fact there were many in this swamp that would lie in wait and ambush unsuspecting prey.

Thankfully Lelouch had come prepared as he carried an essence burner which burned a concoction that would keep the Danger Beasts from attacking them or at least the most dangerous of them lurking in the swamp.

"I can't believe you are crazy enough to have set up a base in the middle of this pit." Chelsea said while thankful she was wearing boots.

"This base has been here since the founding of the Empire, so it was built to last." Lelouch noted as he they reached a small cave seemingly at the heart of the swamp. "When we checked it out it was still possible for it to be used and its location while dangerous makes a good hideout."

"Yeah if you can survive being attacked by a Danger Beast every five steps you take."

"That is what this is for." Lelouch said reminding Chelsea of the essence burner he had been carrying.

"So what now then Zero?" Chelsea inquired.

"We meet up with my associate who is waiting for us."

"How do you know she is here?" The female assassin asked before Lelouch pointed to a pair of large Danger Beast carcasses that had been killed fairly recently. They looked like a mix of a giant dragon and plant-like creature, but Chelsea couldn't tell much more than that due to how the corpses were piled on top of one another. But they had been using the cave recently as a nest until whatever killed them had come along. "Oh…well ok then lead on."

Lelouch or rather Zero led Chelsea into the cave, but despite the small size of the hill it was built into the cave began to descend deep underground. Lighting a torch that had been left for him hanging on the wall, he used a lighter from his supply belt so he could provide light for Chelsea to follow him. After descending underground the two came to a dead end with a black and red painted hand upon the wall.

"So this is it?"

"Just watch, but don't say anything." Lelouch said placing his hand on the painting.

"What is life's greatest illusion?" A heavy and faint voice asked.

"Innocence, my brother." Lelouch answered as the door accepted his answer.

"Welcome home…" The voice said before the wall before them began to part to the sides revealing a pair of heavy armored doors behind the wall itself.

Chelsea was stunned as she didn't expect that, but she was now growing all the more curious at the kind of allies Zero clearly had.

Lelouch opened the doors and gestured for Chelsea to follow him inside, but it wasn't long before the passageway closed behind them. Much like the hideout Lelouch had spent a good portion of his early teenage years in the interior was built like a castle. There were signs that it hadn't been used in a very long time, but it did have some signs of recent activity. Nevertheless the idea that such a place like this underground in one of the most dangerous swamps near the capital was quite a sight to behold.

"I am surprised this has gone unnoticed for long ago did you say this was built again?" Chelsea asked.

"It was built during the founding days of the Empire."

"So did you know about it then?" The girl asked, but another joined their conversation at that moment.

"Oh my…Zero I am surprised to see you brought a girl home, so the boy is starting to grow up." The voice was obviously female, but it had a mix of amusement and teasing.

"It's nothing like that C.C…there were some unexpected complications, but the mission was a success." Zero snapped at the woman known only as C.C.

She looked close to the same age as Chelsea and Lelouch, but it was hard to really tell. She had waist-length green hair and a fair skin complication. When combined with her yellow eyes she looked almost like a doll, but Lelouch knew that deep inside she was probably worse in some ways than Chelsea was. At least when it came down to teasing and how much they could annoy him.

' _Wait…C.C. is worse than Chelsea when it comes to teasing and annoying me.'_ Lelouch thought correcting himself.

C.C's attire consisted of a pair of white shorts with black boots and a white shirt she wore under a long sleeveless black tunic trimmed with gold while parting below the waist to prevent the movement of her legs from being restricted.

"I see…well welcome home Zero." C.C. greeted.

* * *

A/N And at last C.C. makes her entrance. What is she exactly and what role does she have. Well you'll have to wait until next chapter to find out.

Yes I regret things with Liver didn't go as well as I would have preferred, but I am going to make up for it in coming chapters and battles. Lelouch was forced to cut it short knowing that explosion that wrecked the inn would call in the local law enforcement for the town along with everyone else, so he had to end it and then flee with a wounded Chelsea before they could arrive.

But the discussion with draconichero21 did convince me to using a Teigu adapted form of his Geass from the series, but it has some limitations but it does have something that makes it a capable counter against the more powerful Teigu in the possession of the current Emperor. Originally I was going to have Lelouch use a sword and armor like that of what Bulat used until his death, but I guess it is about time I do a crossover where he has his Geass….or rather a Teigu version of it.

The details of it will be revealed in the next chapter, but I am debating if I should make it an artificial eye that assumes the form of the wearer's eye when inactive or a contact lens-like item.

Also I am going to see how long can I keep Seryu alive for...at least until Wild Hunt gets involved, but maybe...I wonder if she should survive the story.

Thank you for reading and I look forward to your reviews.


	4. Chapter 4 Eye of the Demon

A/N: now don't think I forgot about this story, although I got caught up in the rush I got from writing Threads of Revolution I was still working on this chapter. There were some issues I had to work out with the story, but now that I got them taken care of its full steam ahead.

There was one other issue that kept me from finishing sooner, but I'll mention it at the end of the chapter so without further delay enjoy the chapter and Happy New Year in advance to you guys.

* * *

Chapter 4

Eye of the Demon

Inside the old Black Hand hideout which would serve as Lelouch's main base of operations as Zero, but first he would need to get some supplies and the means to properly furnish it. As such the group was sitting on the ground on futons C.C. had brought as the rest of the wooden furniture was in no condition for anyone to really use without it crumbling under their own weight. Unfortunately despite the possibility Chelsea wanted a real chair to sit in and decided to take the risk.

"So this is Zero's Bachelor pad…" Chelsea said before sitting down in the old chair, which promptly gave way and broke apart causing her to fall onto the floor.

"I warned you the chairs were in no condition for use." C.C. said deadpan while drawing a slice of pizza from a plate she had on the ground next to her. "This place hasn't been used in four-hundred years."

"So who had this dump originally?" Chelsea said getting up while rubbing her behind since it was feeling sore from that fall.

"Zero was trained by the remnants of the previous owners of this stronghold and they gave it to him to use as he sees fit because they don't want their own hideout becoming known to the world." C.C. explained.

"I see, so I take it you will not tell me who the previous owners were," Chelsea said before using her hands to dust herself off.

"No because that would lead you to figuring out who I really am and right now its best that my true identity remains unknown to you," Lelouch said as he locked gazes with the lollipop addicted assassin, but for now Chelsea didn't seem interested in pushing the issue.

"Well I guess that is your call, but you don't need to feel shamed because you must be either a really old man under that mask or an ugly woman," The redhead said with an amused grin which caused Lelouch's eyebrow to begin twitching under his mask.

"I am not going to fall for your provocation, but if you can prove to me that I can trust you then I'll tell you who I really am. Then you'll grasp why I didn't want to tell you," Zero said before turning to march down one of the hallways as he needed some time away from that woman.

Once Lelouch was far enough away he took some deep breaths to calm his nerves while he wondered how that woman became an assassin and how her old associates had put up with her troublesome behavior. Even so once Lelouch could win her over to his side then her skills and her Teigu would be very useful to him, but it would take time and Lelouch had much to do.

'T _omorrow I'll meet with Kirihara and get that taken care of before I can begin focusing on recruiting others to join the ranks of my new group,'_ Lelouch thought as he began planning out his day for tomorrow.

As Lelouch was alone elsewhere in the base C.C. decided to lead Chelsea to what would be her accommodations, although it would be some time before they properly refurnished the base since most of its current furniture was too old to use. As the two women walked down the hall together Chelsea decided to strike up a conversation hoping to learn more about Zero.

"So what are you to Lelouch," Chelsea inquired before pulling out her lollipop for a moment with her right hand.

"I am his accomplice it's as simple as that," C.C. answered with a deadpanned expression.

"Oh so you two aren't lovers then," Chelsea asked with a mischievous smile hoping she might succeed with the green haired woman where she failed with Lelouch, but her hopes were quickly dashed.

"No, but why do you ask? Are you jealous of me being close to him or interested in him," C.C. replied with a sly smile turning the question meant to provoke her into a brief rage where she might have accidently let slip some information Chelsea could use right back at the lollipop addict.

"It's…nothing like that," Chelsea huffed crossing her arms over her chest.

* * *

Meanwhile outside in the countryside between the capital and the Narita was the small camp set up by Suzaku and Seryu, although they could have stayed at one of the inns in one of the towns along the way Seryu insisted on camping out so they could be ready to move at dawn. Suzaku didn't mind, but he wasn't sure if it was ok for him to sleep in the same tent as Seryu. They had their own sleeping bags, so it wasn't like they were sharing but there were two issues Suzaku had a problem with.

One the fact Seryu was a girl and so Suzaku felt sleeping in the same tent as her was inappropriate. Then second and the most important reason of all was Koro.

Sleeping in the same tent as something capable of devouring whole men easily might have made some people feel safe, but Suzaku has always felt a bad vibe from Koro and was afraid that one day the Teigu would eat him because he is too close to Seryu. It might have been Suzaku's imagine or his fear of ending up like some of Seryu's previous partners fueling this feeling of suspicion, but no matter what Suzaku couldn't shake the feeling. The creature in question was sitting upon Suzaku's chest while the latter was asleep with a teeth-filled smile.

Koro's growing woke Suzaku up while Seryu was sound asleep, but upon opening his eyes the brown-haired young man noticed something.

"Uh Seryu what do you," Suzaku managing to wake the young woman who proceeded to look up at the star filled sky. He avoided eye contact with Koro fearing it might provoke him into attacking him if he wasn't careful.

"I see a lot of stars, Suzaku," Seryu replied with a yawn as she was clearly still half-asleep.

"And what else do you see?"

Suzaku was hoping Seryu would see Koro on top of him, but he knew there was another issue.

"Well," Seryu began yawning again before saying, "astronomically, it tells me that there are millions of galaxies and potentially billions of planets. Horologically, I deduce that the time is approximately a quarter past three. Meterologically, I suspect that we will have a beautiful day tomorrow. What does it tell you, Suzaku?"

Suzaku was surprised by Seryu's response, but he suspected it was most likely the fact that she was not fully awake yet.

"Someone has stolen our tent," Suzaku answered bluntly as his words caused Seryu to snap wide awake as she was now fully aware of the fact that their tent was missing.

"Koro why didn't you stop them," Seryu asked while her Teigu only whined in response. "GET THEM!"

Koro hurried off in the direction of where the thieves had gone, which unfortunately for them didn't get far as the sound of their screaming indicated as Koro had transformed into his much larger form.

Suzaku sighed as this left them with a new problem. If Koro devours the thieves then where would they sleep?

' _I should have asked her to instruct Koro to catch them instead of killing them.'_

* * *

The following morning Lelouch had left before dawn in a disguise before leaving for town, but he took great care to ensure Chelsea was asleep when he left. Thankfully C.C. was keeping an eye on her to ensure she wouldn't cause any problems while he is away.

Before reaching the capital Lelouch had taken time to visit the dead drop to collect his reward and the outline for his next mission plan which noted that Kirihara would have all of the details. By the time Lelouch reached the capital it was close to noon.

His disguise for the day was that of a seemingly obese man with curly red hair and a beard with green eyes. He wore a mask and a padded body suit to disguise his appearance while wearing red and green robes suitable for a wealthy merchant, but of course Lelouch carried a few hidden weapons and wore a few perfumes to mask his scent and the smell of gunpowder of his weapons too.

He had an hour before meeting with his contact so Lelouch went into a tavern to relax until it was time to meet with his contact, but as he was finishing a drink a familiar blonde haired woman approached him before sitting in the chair opposite of him at the table he was sitting at. Lelouch recognized her easily as Leone of Night Raid, but Lelouch was certain she couldn't be aware of her identity so he was beginning to wonder what were the busty blonde haired woman's intentions for coming to his table.

"Hey I recall seeing you around before," Leone greeted cheerfully, "are you new to the capital or just passing through?"

"I am here on business mostly," Lelouch replied using his skills to disguise his voice with a heavy accent to mask his identity.

"Really now…must involve trading huh," Leone asked with a smirk as Lelouch was growing suspicious of her.

Upon feeling something near where he kept his purse of gold coins Lelouch realized what Leone was trying to do, but it felt more like she was testing him.

"Indeed I have been all over the place," Lelouch said while pretending to be obvious to Leone's attempts.

"Is that so, how about a game of cards then?"

"Really," Lelouch asked as he suspected what Leone's real aim is adding in a causal manner, "so any stakes involved?"

"A little money on the side that's all to make things more interesting." Leone said dropped a small sack of gold coins on the table.

Lelouch kept a seemingly clueless expression on his face, but on the inside he was grinning.

"Ok I am interested in a friendly game, so what shall it be?"

"Blackjack!" Leone announced cheerfully as some of the patrons looked at Lelouch with sympathetic expressions.

"Alright let's play then…would you like to shuffle." Lelouch asked politely while carrying a smile on his face while Leone was smiling as well.

"Oh you are so kind." The blonde haired assassin replied cheerfully while she was laughing on the inside.

' _This will be too easy. I'll rob him blind.'_

Five minutes later the game came to an end with Lelouch having won much to Leone's shock and sorrow who was trying to grasp how she lost. Lelouch was smiling, but he was resisting the urge to laugh because her attempts at false shuffling were obvious from the start. Unfortunately for Leone the former prince easily countered her and beaten her using card counting. As a result Lelouch filled his purse with almost all of the gold he won, but kept one piece out before flipping into the air before a teary Leone.

"I can't believe it," Leone said in-between sobs, "I never lose at this game so how."

"Maybe today was my lucky day, but here you go little lady."

Lelouch flipped the coin into the air causing Leone focus her attention on it before catching it.

"Anyway it's been fun, but I have to go."

Just as Lelouch was about to leave Leone approached him and put his arm over his shoulder, but Lelouch didn't react as he had been expecting this. Lelouch pretended that nothing was amiss as he decided to politely bid the blonde haired woman good day.

"I am sure we'll be seeing each other again."

"Oh I hope so." Leone said as she waved good bye to the traveler, but once Lelouch was gone Leone went to the bar to buy a new drink with a smile on her face she slammed Lelouch's purse on the countertop.

The bartender didn't seem hardly surprised by this, but it was a common occurrence not just from Leone but from some of his other regulars.

"He might have beaten me, but I still win."

The busty blonde was laughing but when she reached into the purse she realized it wasn't filled with gold but with pieces of copper cut and shaped to look like coins. She didn't know it, but while her attention had been on the coin Lelouch flipped into the air he quickly swapped his purse with his decoy purse knowing that Leone was going to rob him.

Leone was speechless as her mind was trying to register the fact she had been tricked.

"It looks like that traveler turned the tables on you." The bartender said with a light laugh.

"Where is he?" Leone said with a dangerous tone in her voice before rushing out to track down Lelouch, but it would be a fruitless search.

Thankfully for Lelouch he made his way to his meeting which was in an older part of the capital where a representative of Kirihara was waiting for him to lead him to his master for their meeting. They entered a tea shop where Lelouch was led into the back through the kitchen before being led down a ladder into an underground tunnel. He and the representative traveled for a ways until they came up into a closed theater where an elderly man wearing brown robes with a bald head sat at the front row before the stage with two bodyguards standing next to him.

"Mr. Kirihara?" Lelouch inquired as the man turned to face him.

"Ah it's been awhile young man I assume everything is well?"

Taizō Kirihara gestured for Lelouch to sit next to him so the two could talk.

"Everything has been proceeding smoothly, but also its time for me to begin building."

"I see so Lucien gave his approval to begin building your own force. I thought as much when he contacted me about providing you with resources and supplies, which I assume is for providing the needed supplies to restore that old fortress you have taken as your headquarters?"

"Indeed you are correct."

"I'll be more than happy to assist you, but there is something I need you to do for me."

"I am listening," Lelouch said as he expected something like this, "I assume you want someone killed?"

"Yes," Kirihara said before reaching into his robes to pull out some documents before he continued speaking as Lelouch accepted the documents and began reading the documents, "This is the Ismaren Family they are a wealthy family that owns a number of the Empire's industrial factories that produce weapons and supplies for them so as such they hold a great deal of influence with the higher ups in the palace."

"I see and I assume they use their position to abuse their influence for their own gain correct." Lelouch said with a stoic expression as such was a typical story of most wealthy families in the capital.

"Correct, but they are among the cruelest of the wealthy families because of their hobby." Kirihara said not hiding any disgust in his voice which Lelouch knew was directed the family in question, before the old man took a breath before continuing. "They have a habit of finding people of low-standing or more often they find those who travel to the capital from the frontier to seek better lives and opportunities there."

' _I see where this is going.'_ Lelouch thought as he didn't interrupt Kirihara.

"They begin by inviting them to stay at their house under false pretenses, but at some point they are usually drugged and brought to their storehouse where they are cruelly tortured to death."

"The entire family is involved in this," Lelouch said gesturing at the photo of the family which included the head of the household, his wife and his daughter, "including the daughter I presume?"

"You are correct even their daughter takes part in the deceptions and the torture, so they along with their entire staff at the mansion are guilty."

"I'll kill them."

"Yes, but aside from that there are documents and information contained in the family safe I would like you to recover along with assassinating that family. That is your top priority over killing the family."

"How so…didn't you want them killed?" Lelouch asked crossing his arms over his chest.

"Yes, but I have heard word that someone is seeking to contract Night Raid for the task of killing them." Kirihara explained before a smirk appeared on his face. "The way I heard it that they were a number of people wishing to hire Night Raid to kill that family that they had to hold a lottery to decide who they will accept the job from. I don't know when it will happen, but if they happen to come and begin slaughtering the family then fine. I want those documents, but if they don't show then kill the family as well."

"Understood and I have a plan in mind already." Lelouch replied with a sinister smile as he brought one hand close to his right eye.

* * *

Meanwhile as Lelouch was meeting with Kirihara, Leone had spent the last hour in a fruitless search for the disguised Lelouch but it amounted to nothing leaving Leone tired and frustrated. Sitting down at an outdoor café Leone used her one gold piece to buy a cup of coffee as she wasn't able to get anything else with it.

' _I can't believe he swindled me like that. Even though I tried to swindle him I know, but still that didn't expect him to see through it.'_

Leone was depressed, but suddenly she heard the voice of a young man from a passing crowd behind her.

"WOW so this is the capital," A young boy with brown hair exclaimed as his green eyes stared at his surroundings with a starry look in his eyes before he added, "If I do well here I could buy the entire village. I better find the barracks and quick."

' _So another naïve country boy has come to the capital huh.'_ Leone thought before a mischievous smirk appeared on her face.

Tatsumi fresh out of the countryside and visiting the capital for the first time made his way through the busy streets of the capital until he found his way to the military recruitment office. After standing in line for a short while the cheerful brown haired travel approached the man behind the desk.

"I am here to join the army!" Tatsumi declared happily to the clearly bored and disinterested clerk behind the desk.

"Uh-huh," The man said without even looking at Tatsumi as he handed him a form. "So you want to join the ranks too huh? Well fill out this form and hand it back to me."

Tatsumi looked over the form before asking, "Does this mean I have to start as a private?"

"What do you think? And most likely you'll be sent to the remote regions."

"I DON'T HAVE TIME FOR THAT!" Tatsumi shouted bombastically before he added while drawing his sword. "Just see what I can do. If you think you can use me then start me out by enlisting me as a captain."

The only thing that display did was have Tatsumi thrown out of the recruitment office and onto the street.

"The heck! Give me a shot at least!"

"GET REAL! If you want to become a solider then you need to enter the lottery to have a chance at joining. In this recession we're being flooded with new applicants so I can't test each and every one of you. Besides we have a limited number of spots to fill!" The recruitment officer snapped.

"Oh…is that so," Tatsumi said as he didn't realize so many people were trying to enlist.

"GET LOST, YOU DAMN BRAT!"

The door was slammed shut leaving Tatsumi alone sitting in the middle of the street. As Tatsumi contemplated a way out of this predicament Leone was slowly approaching him from behind with a smirk on her face.

' _I had a feeling this would happen.'_

"Hey there," Leone said greeting the down on his luck young man before asking, "You look like you are in a tight spot kid so could I lean you a hand?"

Tatsumi was rendered speechless as he looked over his shoulders at the beautiful woman and his eyes were on her busty bosom.

"So what's your story?" Leone asked with a smile.

When Tatsumi still didn't respond Leone answered for him.

"Let me guess, you came from the country to follow your dream in the capital right?"

"How did you know?" Tatsumi said as he was both shocked and impressed she guessed it right.

"When you lived in the capital long enough, you can spot the out-of-towner from a mile away." Leone explained raising one hand up wagging her right index finger back and forth. "So I know a way to get you into the army."

"REALLY!" Tatsumi exclaimed happily.

"Do you want me to tell you?"

Tatsumi eagerly nodded in response.

"In that case treat me to a meal."

But little did Tatsumi know that his troubles were just beginning.

* * *

It was after dark when Lelouch, having changed his disguise in the event he ran into Leone, made his way back to his base before midnight having accomplished everything he needed to do. He even found time to scout out and inspect the Ismaren Estate allowing Lelouch to plan out his way of entry and how he would bypass the mansion. He was out so late because he needed to better set up conditions for him when he intended to infiltrate the estate tomorrow night.

Upon returning to the hideout Lelouch was met by C.C.

"So how did it go?"

"It went well and if you are wondering why I was out later than I said I would be it was because I was scouting out the estate of my next target."

"Oh so the old man did give you a mission after all."

"Yes and in exchange for accomplishing it he would provide us with everything we need." Lelouch said as he looked around the place while remarking mentally it would be good to see this place get cleaned up and restored to proper order.

"Wow you are back late, but could that be what you look like under the mask...old man?" Chelsea asked entering the room and noticing Lelouch's disguised appearance.

Lelouch had swapped parts of his disguised he used early to go into the capital and swapped out his previous face mask for that of his old man disguise to prevent Leone from recognizing him should he run into her again.

"Unlike some who have Teigu capable of completely disguising oneself I have to disguise myself the old fashion way." Lelouch said deadpanned.

"That is a relief then you are not some old coot then because I would be worried about your capabilities as an assassin." Chelsea jokingly commented with a smirk.

"Anyway I'll be heading out tomorrow night to assassinate another target." Lelouch began deciding to change the subject. "Have you heard of the Ismaren Family?"

"Not really as most of my jobs keep me busy out on the Empire's frontier."

"They are a family of wealthy business owners with connections that go all the way to the palace itself, so in other ways they are corrupt and abusing their influence to carry on their little hobby of picking up people from the country and those who wouldn't be missed in the capital and then torture them to death."

"So you are going to kill them then?"

"Yes and it seems Night Raid is being contracted to kill them as well. Heck I was told there was so many people that wanted this family dead that Night Raid had to hold a lottery to see who they would accept the job from." Lelouch said with an amused smirk on his face.

"What you are saying that you might run into Night Raid?" Chelsea said before placing a lollipop into her mouth.

"Most likely, but it will work to my favor since their usual method of attacking head on and wiping out opposition typically has provided me with a easier time slipping away." Lelouch answered with a smile because for an organization to believe to be a band of assassins they do not actually sneak in using stealth to kill their targets most of the time, although there are some times they use stealth in their assassinations. "But you are the only one I consider to be a genuine assassin since you are quieter than some of your capital-based co-workers."

Chelsea smiled at the compliment she received before asking, "So are you going to wipe out the whole family then?"

"The head of the household, his wife and even their daughter take sadistic delight in the suffering of innocent people who didn't want to die and were deceived by their deception just to fuel their sick hobby. As far as I am concerned they already sealed their own fate…I am just the reaper." Lelouch replied darkly.

"That is a bit cold." Chelsea said while her eyes narrowed as she was trying to get a better read on the personality of the man before him.

' _I am almost certain he is young somehow, but…'_

"I might ask you to join me on one of my future missions, but this one I should be handle. Besides if Night Raid does get involved like I know they will things are going to get crazy really fast."

"So what am I going to do here?"

"I'll be teaching you some of our tricks tomorrow so you can better keep up with Zero." C.C. said with her arms crossed over her chest. "So don't worry you won't be bored."

"I guess that is good."

* * *

The following night Lelouch dressed in his Zero grab including his signature mask was sneaking through the shadows of the trees surrounding the estate. Lelouch approached the backdoor where he spotted two guards, although he could infiltrate through one of the windows on the upper floors of the mansion Lelouch had a different method in mind for tonight.

' _Excellent they didn't change their patrol time and members.'_ Lelouch thought before he approached the guards. When they saw him they immediately assumed a defensive stance, but a second later their eyes began flowing with a red ring around their irises before their expressions changed suddenly. Then men stood at attention as they saluted Zero while in some kind of trance like state.

"We await your orders Master Zero." The guards said together in unison.

"Excellent," Lelouch began as observed the guards the previous night he managed to discreetly approach some of them and use his Teigu to put them under his control, "Both of you will relieve the guards outside of Mr. Ismaren's study and then proceed inside where you will restrain him. One of you will let me in before you help me in using my Teigu on him…understood?"

"Yes sir…" The guards replied stoically.

"Good now go…I'll meet you there."

Lelouch quickly began scaling the wall of the mansion making his way to the rooftop before sneaking across the rooftop to reach the window where the study was located. The masked assassin knew the location of the study thanks to studying the information Kirihara provided him as well as the guards he questioned after he enslaved them using his Teigu. Lelouch cautiously climbed down from the roof and hid by the window to the study where the head of the household spent his evenings.

The former prince waited for a few minutes until one of his mind controlled guards opened the window to let him in.

"Good work," Zero said as he was smiling under his mask before he turned to a man in his early fifties with gray hair and brown eyes wearing a brown suit, "So you must be Mr. Ismaren…it's a pleasure to meet you."

Mr. Ismaren couldn't speak as the soldier holding him captive had also using one of his hands to cover the older man's mouth to keep him silent.

"Did you lock the door?" Lelouch inquired before the soldier who let him in went to lock the door to ensure no one could bother them. "Good now onto the business at hand."

Lelouch brought one hand up to his mask pressing a hidden switch which opened up a panel on his mask revealing his purple eye, but it suddenly shifted its appearance into a demonic eye with a silver iris and a red slit-like pupil before a red emblem similar to that of a phoenix began glowing upon it.

"This is my Teigu called Geass, but better known by its other name as the Demonic Eye of Domination. I won't waste time using threats to get you to cooperate with me where I'll force you to follow my commands including walking to the guillotine." Lelouch said as he was grinning under his mask before he gestured for the other guard to help the first one in properly restraining the older man while one of them used a free hand to forcibly keep his eyes open.

"Zero commands you to follow my orders from this moment on."

In that instance an unseen power began to overtake Mr. Ismaren's mind, although he struggled against it briefly like all of the previous victims of the Teigu they were now enthralled under Zero to obey whatever orders he gives them. Of course Lelouch could always compel them to follow his orders for a short time before releasing them from his control or until the conditions of his orders were fulfilled which would then leave them with memory loss including events during the time they followed his commands and before he cast it on them ensuring no one remembered him.

After seeing Mr. Ismaren's face become a blank slate Lelouch gestured to the two controlled guards to release him.

"How may I serve you master?"

"I want you to open your personal safe and give me all of the documents contained within along with all information on your illegal smuggling and trading activities."

"Yes sir," Mr. Ismaren said stoically as walked to a wall near the window and opened up a secret panel concealed behind a painting of him and his family revealing a safe.

Lelouch watched him entered in the combination before he opened the safe emptying out its documents and handing them to Zero who opened his satchel bag to place the documents inside along with every shady deal he had ever conducted as well as other secret documents no one outside of the Ismaren Family should see.

' _These documents should be of great help to Kirihara especially since these other documents should allow him to lay claim to the Ismaren Family fortune and estate.'_ Lelouch thought with a smile hidden behind his mask as aside from the documents and records of every illegal deal they conducted behind the scenes the safe had the deed and financial records that would be needed for Kirihara to absorb the family's wealth following their passing.

Once the documents were secured Lelouch turned to the guards.

"You there take this," Lelouch said pulling out a small gas bomb from his bag, "once I safely leave the room and reach the rooftop detonate this." Lelouch ordered while he placed his usual calling card in a place where it would be found.

"Yes sir."

Lelouch wasted no time leaving the room while taking care to close the window behind him. Once he reached the rooftop the gas bomb was detonated.

The masked assassin climbed down to observe the hallway leading to the study as to observe if anyone unfortunate enough would enter the room. As expected the screams of the three men dying an extremely painful death could be heard luring other guards to the study including Mrs. Ismaren who was a younger woman in her early thirties with blonde hair and blue eyes. A very sinister smile graced Lelouch's features, which were of course hidden behind his mask, when he watched them open the door before the contained gas was released infecting them.

As he observed what would come next as the gas was quickly taking effect Lelouch saw someone else coming down from the other end of the hallway towards the commotion, although Lelouch wouldn't have cared if it was another guard but he quickly recognized the woman as Sheele from Night Raid. Not wanting the female assassin to end up killed by the gas Lelouch grabbed Sheele and pulled her out the window as the two assassins fell onto the ground, but Lelouch quickly righted himself catching Sheele before landing in a graceful crouch.

Remarkably Sheele was still holding onto her large Teigu.

"I apologize for starling you like that, but you really don't want to be anywhere near that study." Zero said to a stunned Sheele who would have attacked him, but upon seeing it was Zero she stayed her hand. Sheele recalled the description Mine had given when she saw him that one time and quickly recognized the mask, but most importantly she didn't even know he was there so she was caught completely off guard.

"Z…Z…Zero," Sheele said as her mind was still trying to wrap itself around the fact she was face to face with the mysterious assassin who until now no one had seen up close like she was right now.

A scream from upstairs turned their attention where they saw Mrs. Ismaren sticking her upper body out the window in a vain effort to escape the gas, but it was too late. Sheele was wide-eyed with a look of shock as she saw Mrs. Ismaren in a lot of pain, but it appeared her skin was beginning to melt off.

"I set off a gas bomb containing a potent cholinesterase inhibitor fashioned from poison I usually use in my assassinations." Lelouch said as he began to explain the effects of the poisonous gas bomb. "Similar to the poison harvested from the Chaurus stops the brain from sending nerve messages down the spinal cord within thirty seconds. Any epidermal exposure or inhalation and you'll know by a twinge at the small of your back as the poison seizes your nervous system. After that the poison kicks into overdrive as your muscles freeze, you can't breathe, you spasm so hard you break your own back and spit your guts out. But that's after your skin melts off."

Sheele swallowed hard as a result of realizing how close to death she had just been.

"I would advise your co-workers to stay away from there until the room airs out, but in case you were wondering I got the head of the house so I guess the daughter is left."

"Uh…thank you."

"Don't mention it, but since you are here could you do me a favor?" Lelouch said before handing Sheele a sealed envelope. "Could you give this to your leader for me?"

"Ok," Sheele said accepting the letter as she took a moment to examine it.

In that moment Sheele had taken her eyes off of Zero to examine the letter Lelouch had vanished leaving Sheele by herself.

Moments later Leone, Akame and Bulat arrived to find a confused Sheele looking around for Zero before her friends approached her.

"Sheele what happened you were supposed to be going after your target?" Leone asked.

"Oh well it seems Zero got her and the husband before we did. He used a poison gas bomb to kill the husband while the wife and some guards entered the room breathing in the poisoned gas killing them as well." Sheele said with a matter of fact tone before holding up the letter Zero gave him. "And he gave me this letter to give to our boss."

"You saw Zero?" Bulat asked as he was surprised that Sheele saw Zero face to face.

"Yes and he pulled me out of the hallway before I got too close to the study. He said he didn't want me breathing in the gas."

' _He snuck up on Sheele without her even knowing he was there?'_ Leone thought as she was surprised by this turn of events as well too.

"Sheele was the daughter caught in that trap?" Akame asked unperturbedly.

"No he said the daughter was the only one left unless one of us got her."

"We haven't seen her yet, so I guess that means she is still alive." Bulat said as he and his fellow assassins still had one target left.

* * *

Around the same time in another corner of the estate one of the few remaining guards and the daughter of the Ismaren family head were running towards a large storage shed in a last ditch effort to escape the massacre that wiped out everyone else. The girl had blonde hair and blue eyes wearing a blue dress, but they were soon joined by Tatsumi who during the previous night was found on the street by Aria after Leone swindled him out of his money leaving him to spend the night out on the streets until the blonde girl found him and brought him to their estate.

He had spent the day helping the family as a way to repay them for their kindness.

Like a majority of the household the assault by Night Raid and those being killed by Zero's gas bomb woke Tatsumi up. After witnessing most of the guards get slaughtered when they fought against the assembled members of Night Raid whom Tatsumi had heard about from one of the guards while he accompanied Aria around the capital today.

' _I can at least save Miss Aria.'_ Tatsumi thought as he managed to escape the mansion without incident before coming across Aria and the last living guard on the estate grounds near the shed at the rear of the estate.

"Miss Aria…there you are!" Tatsumi said after catching up to them.

"Tatsumi!" Aria said in surprise at the sight of the young man.

"Perfect timing," The guard exclaimed proudly before he added, "You can hold off the enemy while Miss Aria and I seek refuge inside the shed until the authorities arrive."

"Huh…that might be a little much." Tatsumi nervously as the memories of seeing how the other guards were cut down by the members of Night Raid so easily was still fresh in his mind.

Either tempted by fate or Tatsumi's words Akame arrived on the scene with her sword drawn.

"Shit I guess I got no choice!" Tatsumi boldly declared drawing his sword as Akame rushed him, but instead of attack she simply leapt over him by using his shoulder to hop further into the air.

"You are not a target." Akame said stoically in passing before landing directly ahead of the guard and Aria.

"Shit she is coming this way!" The guard said realizing Akame was intending to kill him before killing the girl so he unloaded the entire magazine of his rifle trying to gun down the fast moving female assassin. It wasn't enough to stop Akame who through an impressive display of evasion and speed dodged all of the bullets before slicing the guard in two through his waist.

Aria was stunned by how quickly the guard was killed and began cautiously backing away before tripping on a rock.

Akame in that instant stood over her with her sword ready to cleave her in two.

"You will be buried."

Before the killing blow could be delivered Tatsumi intervened coming in-between Akame and Aria forcing the red eyed assassin to back away.

"Not so fast!"

"You are not a target, so there is no reason to kill you so stand aside." Akame emotionlessly demanded of the young man blocking her from her target.

"But you want to kill this girl don't you?"

Akame nodded her head in response before offering what would be a final warning. "If you get in my way I'll kill you too."

"I very well cannot run away now can I?" Tatsumi said defiantly, but he knew his chances of winning were slim to none.

"I see…then I will send you to rest." Akame said with a dangerous tone of determination in her voice.

Approaching the scene to provide any back-up if required was Leone as the rest of their group had finished mopping up any guards they had missed, but as she approached the shed she saw the battle about to erupt between Akame and a boy she wasn't expecting to see again.

"Oh boy…that kid's got shit for luck."

Despite the odds stacked against him Tatsumi showed no signs of backing down, because in his mind if he couldn't save one innocent girl then how could he save his whole village.

Akame and Tatsumi's blades met in a fierce clash between them, although Akame was clearly far more experienced and better trained than Tatsumi was the young man held his own against the master assassin and swordswoman. The clashed was quick as Akame was clearly the faster of the two, so she was keeping Tatsumi on the defensive which was about all he could do. But after a kick to his arm Akame found an opening in his defenses and thrust his sword into his chest where his heart would be.

The impact was enough to bring Tatsumi to his knees having been seemingly killed.

"Tatsumi!" Aria cried out as the last person standing between her and death had fallen, or so it seemed.

Akame backed away realizing her blade did not penetrate into his body.

"So you won't come near me even after I dropped my guard." Tatsumi said getting back up to his feet while feeling a pain against his chest, although the object there blocked Akame's sword from piercing his heart the impact of the thrust and the pain it caused still hurt which was just a testament to the power Akame had put into the thrust.

"I didn't feel my sword pierce you."

"Heh my friends from my village protected me." Tatsumi declared pulling out a damaged idol which he was given by the village elder before leaving.

' _Huh he is clearly fighting a losing battle, but he is holding his own against Akame a lot better than I thought.'_ Leone thought as she was observing the fight between the two.

"Rest in pieces!" Akame said with renewed determination as she rushed Tatsumi intending to behead him this time.

"Wait hold on," Tatsumi said waving his hands in the air in an effort to get the assassin to stay her blade, "if its money you are after then let this girl go! This isn't a battle so don't kill an innocent girl!"

Akame didn't slow down and she was just seconds away from taking Tatsumi's head off.

* * *

A/N: well we kinda know how this will end, but there will be one notable difference and the mentioned issue I am bringing up now, which I have decided to let you the reader decide.

The fate of Sayo…should she live and join Lelouch's ranks as one of the first of his new group or should she die in canon.

I intended for her to live if mostly as a means of breaking canon, but the decision has caused some disagreements with some saying I am a bleeding heart for deciding to spare her, which is not true because as a tradeoff I am going to off a CG cast member when story conditions are more ideal for it.

And NO it will not be Euphy or Shirley because those two are predictable choices for characters that get killed so no those two will probably survive this story.

It won't be Suzaku either since he is just as important as Lelouch is, so not him either.

As for pairings so far I am going to try and pursue the Seryu and Suzaku pairing to see how far it goes, but for Lelouch its still up in the air between Chelsea, Mine and possibly Sheele…and no there will be no harem because I can't see one happening in this story with its set conditions.

Also Lelouch's Teigu has been revealed, although I reluctantly decided to call it Geass because I could figure out a much better name for it. But it has a trump card ability besides its basic abilities similar to the Geass Lelouch had in canon. Lelouch just doesn't use it too often only because he runs the risk of exposing himself which I will explain in the next chapter.

And for Aria's family since her father and mother weren't really given any names that I knew of I had to make up a family name for them since only the daughter really had a name so yeah.

Anyway I hope to have the next chapter out sooner, but we'll see and I appreciate the feedback.


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